In September, when I was in Edmonton, I had the great pleasure of visiting the home of Elizabeth Penttinen. She is an art quilter extraordinaire! I was blown over by her talent and the variety of quilts that I saw. And, I know that there were many more that I didn’t see.
The photos were taken with my Iphone and at night, indoors, so the photo quality is not the best.
Obviously, this one is ready for quilting … but look at all the greens, the curves, the straight lines …
This one has an organic wavy binding … and if I remember correctly, it is not cut on the bias.
And a close up of the quilting … all hand guided …
All different leaves in this one …
I see the wind blowing in this one … great movement!
Look at the beautiful thread painting! And beads, buttons and shells … (I think!)
Fun collage quilts … made from t-shirts, sheets, and other fabric things.
Elizabeth has spent a lot of time in Africa … I can’t help but think that this definitely influenced this collage quilt.
Cows anyone?
Sons of Anarchy
I absolutely LOVE giraffes and I think this is my favourite by far!!! She was going to be teaching this at her guild … how I would have loved to have taken this class!
Beautiful flowers!
Fall still life …
Mixed media … from Disney!
Thank you, Elizabeth, for the privilege of seeing your beautiful quilts!
Many of these quilts are for sale, if you are interested, contact Elizabeth e_penttinen@hotmail.com and she can give you more information.
Do you know what it’s like to get ready for a retreat? Oh ya! On Thursday, I managed to get borders on 2 quilts and they are sandwiched and hopefully will be quilted at the retreat … bobbins are wound.
And then there is the last minute gathering of STUFF … yup, all sorts of STUFF. When you’re one of the co-organizers, there is a LOT of details to attend to. Last minute emails to send out …
I haven’t been on a retreat for almost 2 years. That’s a LONG time for a retreat junkie!
It’s all good!!! I will get it done. Well, most of it anyhow. And of course, I doubt that I’ll finish all 5 or 6 projects that I’m taking with me … but it’s always good to have a variety to choose from! I’ll tell you all about it next week!
A Friday Finish
I made this quilt earlier this year, thinking it would be good for a fat-quarter quilt and a mystery quilt … and then I changed my mind and went in a bit of a different direction for the Summer Mystery. I still like this quilt … and perhaps one day, I’ll write up the directions for it … but not now … not yet … But it did use 7 fat quarters … with little fabric to spare …
I Was Featured
Photo credit: Jerry Khiev, Island Batik
I was featured on the following blogs … Check them out!
In July, Kelly, of My Quilt Infatuation, emailed me and asked if I would be willing to participate in a blog hop promoting her new book. I felt honoured and of course, I said, “YES.”
She asked me to make an improve ornament mini quilt! This is the quilt she asked me to make! Isn’t it cute?
Sew … I gathered a bunch of blue and purple Island Batik scraps.
Then I sewed them together sort-of following the directions in the book. A lot of my scraps had weird angles in them … so mine aren’t totally square … more improv!
I followed the directions for making the ornaments. They were very clear and easy to follow. As directed, I did use my Tri-Recs rulers for making the purple ornament.
I used Island Batik solid “Turquoise” on the purple ornament and “Amethyst” on the blue ornaments. The strings were made with “Dark Grey.” And the background is “Rice.” I absolutely LOVE Rice!!!
This mini quilt is quilted the same as in the book … stippling in the background and organic straight(ish) lines on the ornaments. I used Aurifil 2600 – Dove to quilt it. And yes, I did stitch in the ditch around the strings and the ornaments.
This was such a fun quilt to make! I’m sure I will be making more mini quilts from this blog!
I have already made “Up, Up and Away,” using Kelly’s instructions on enlarging the quilt. I made it baby sized. I posted about it, and your can read about it HERE.
To me, Kelly’s “Scrappy Improv Quilting” book is one that EVERYONE should have in their book collection! There is a HUGE variety of mini quilts and you can make them bigger as well! I know I already said this, but the book is very well written. The directions are clear and easy to follow!
I actually have 2 more quilts from this book in progress … and I will show you them when they are completed!
If you want to buy the book, I know that Essem Textiles has a few in stock. As well, I will be teaching several quilts from this book at Essem later this month. Contact them to sign up for the class.
Blog Hop
Here is the Schedule for the Blog Hop: (All links up to Oct 11 are direct links to the original post, so you won’t have to hunt through the blogs! … you’re welcome!)
Scrappy Improv QuiltingĀ Blog Tour Schedule-8/31-Ā Intro, Single Block Beauties, and Simple ShapesĀ
I’ve been madly sewing on things I can’t show you and writing patterns to go with the quilts I’m making. But, this post is about what I CAN show you! Design Wall
Design Wall
Piecing:
#1 Scrappy Improv Quilting …
I’m working on another quilt from Kelly Young’s book “Scrappy Improv Quilting”. I’m doing it as a leader and ender with all the Secret Sewing I’m doing
#2. Secret Sewing: Island Batik
#3. Meadow Mist’s Macaroon Mystery.
I’m a bit behind on this mystery. I have the pieces all cut. Yes, it’s all reproduction blues with an off white for the background. If you LOVE mystery quilts … Cheryl’s quilts are a dream to make! You can see all the clues HERE.
Quilting:
#1 November Island Batik project is being quilted
Stash Report
No shopping, no finishes that used stash!
Fabric Used this week 0yards
Fabric Used this year: 99 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 39.75 yards (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used 58.25 yards
Husbandās purchases: 0 yards (which are added into my total amount of Fabric added this year). For those of you who donāt know ā¦ my husband often buys more fabric than I do ā¦ so, Iām keeping track! Unfortunately, he doesnāt sew!
Stitchinā Time
While away, I managed to sew for 5 days ā¦ and for 6 days, I did not sew.
January ā August ā 261 / 272
Oct ā 10 / 10
Total: 265 / 278
Percentage = 95 %
For more Stitchinā Time, you can check out Kateās blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
Linda from Texas Quilt Gal is now hosting āTo Doā every week. You can check out her blog HERE.
The last To Do list: (from weeks ago)
OK ā¦ so I had over 2 weeks to accomplish my To Do list ā a little bit of everything got done!
Finish quilting Island Batikās November project sort-of done
Work on 3rd Project from Scrappy Improvin progress
Work on Island Batikās December project in progress
Please contact me if you would like to purchase the pattern. This quilt uses a Tri-Recs or a Deb Tucker V-block ruler. There is an option of using a pre-cut Stack (10″ squares) to make this quilt.
Flutterfly Stars appeared in Island Batik’s Spring/Summer catalogue. You can see it HERE. Check out page 9 for a close-up and page 56 for the whole quilt. And there are tons of other beautiful quilts in the catalogue … lots of quilty eye candy!
This quilt used the awesome collection, Flutter Fly, by Kathy Engle and is available at select stores now.
This year, Aurifil Thread has a Color Builder program. It is a total of 12 different mini-collections that, for 2021, are based on Endangered Animals. Aurifil’s goal is to “Increase sustainability and positive environmental impact.” (source: Island Batik).
For the October challenge, Aurifil is asking you to create a piece inspired by the endangered animal featured on your assigned Color Builder box. Use each one of the 3 provided colors somewhere in the challenge piece, how the thread is used is up to you! (source: Island Batik)
I received the Pangolin bundle. The 3 threads in this collection are: #2312 ā Ermine, #6010 ā Toast, #2360 ā Chocolate. They are all 40 weight.
The Pangolin is sometimes used for it’s meat, but mostly the scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine. There is a huge amount of illegal trafficking and the pangolin is considered Critically Endangered. Source.
I literally spent a few months thinking about what I would do.
I finally decided that I would go to the Internet and search for royalty free colouring book pages and pangolin. Bingo! I found one at THIS SITE.
Below is the pangolin print out and fabric (Buttermilk) on my light board. My light board happens to be a window. You can see where the pages are overlapping and taped together. The Buttermilk fabric is taped on top.Then a picture of me tracing it out with a brown sharpie. (Inspired by Helen Godden and the Flower Power Quilt-a-long)
I used Hobbs Polydown batting and Odif 505 temporary adhesive spray and got to work. First I stitched over the brown sharpie lines with #2360 – Chocolate.
I quickly realized that I needed to have a fabric on the back: the polydown was catching on the lowered feed dogs. Previously, when I used this technique, I was able to use Hobbs 80/20 with no difficulty.
Then, I was not pleased with how it was stitching out! So, I cleaned my machine (it needed it) and changed to a Schmetz needle. That helped a bit, but then I took off my ruler quilting foot and put on the regular free-motion quilting foot. I’m not sure why, but my quilting was WAY better.
The pangolin is outlined with Aurifil #2360 ā ChocolateI. The Zendoodling is Aurifil #2312 ā Ermine. Aurifil #6010 – Toast, was used for the organic echoing around the pangolin. It took 3 full days of zendoodling to get to this point. Then I needed a break!
For the spikes around the border, I used several pieces from the Autumn Wings collection, along with Large Netting-Sand (a blender) and Citrine (Marvelous Multis). The spikes were all fused with steam-a-seam light. And appliqued in place with #6010 ā Toast. Then the feet were “coloured” in using Aurifil #2360 Chocolate. It is bound with Wavy Dots – Cappuccino.
Disclosure: The fabrics, thread, batting and needles were generously supplied by the following companies:
Here’s my comments on some of the points as it relates to me and quilting
Think of the end goal. Remember that wonderful feeling when a quilt project is finished? It feels pretty good, right?
Focus on what you can control. OK … so you might not be able to finish your project today, but you can sew a few seams, cut out some of the fabric … That’s doable, right?
Start With The Most Loathed Bits First. You might as well get it out of the way and then the rest will be easy. (Well, this won’t work if binding is what you loath, but I’m sure you can find something!
Work Out What You’re Afraid Of. Cut out the excuses and just get started.
Bribe Yourself Shamelessly. I’m on a serious fabric diet, but maybe I could go shopping. At least I need thread, right?
Do It For Just 10 Minutes. We can all work on a project for 10 minutes … set your timer if you need to!
Here’s my tally sheet. You’ll notice that I have 3 Island Batik Secret projects to work on. I actually had 4, but one is completed. These include writing patterns, organizing pattern testers and making the quilts. I’m going to be busy for the next while!
Meadow Mist Designs hosts a link up for a Favourite Quilt each month. My favourite is from a new book “Scrappy Improv Quilting” by Kelly Young. You can read about it HERE. I will be teaching this quilt (and others) at Essem Textiles later this month. Contact Simina at Essem to book your spot!
This quilt used Island Batik fabrics, Aurifil thread and Hobbs batting!
So Scrappy
My Scrappy Table Topper for September was 2 – both featuring orange … you can read about them HERE. October’s colour is Lime Green. Hmmm … wonder what I’ll make?
How did it get to be October already???? I know they say that time goes faster as you get older – but this is ridiculous! The leaves are turning colour, it’s getting colder and … yes, fall is definitely here! But … sigh …
So my finish for this week is to show you another of my secret sewing from last fall. Yes, it was finished last fall, but I couldn’t show you then! You can see all of the cataloguesĀ HERE. This quilt is in theĀ Spring/Summer 2021Ā catalogue and the fabrics are available now.
This quilt uses the wonderful Island Batik fabric collection “Midnight Dazzle” along with a solid grey and solid white. Midnight Dazzle is a fantastic collection designed by Kathy Engle. It is 63.5″ x 63.5.”
Size: 63.5ā³ x 63.5ā³
Batting: Hobbs 80/20
Thread: Aurifil
Quilting: Free Motion Quilted on my domestic Janome sewing machine.
Please contact me if you would like to buy the pattern.Ā
TGIFF Link Up
Here’s your opportunity to show us your finish for this week:
I was away on holidays … did a bit of sewing then, but most of it is secret sewing … so no pictures.
Design Wall
Piecing:
#1. Secret Sewing: Island Batik
#2 Secret Sewing: BBQG mystery quilt
#2. Scrappy Improv ā¦ another variation of the hot air balloon quilt
Quilting:
#1 November Island Batik project is being quilted
Stash Report
I was in Edmonton while I was away … Lori’s Country Cottage had a 40% sale on selected fabrics … I did not behave myself … It was fun to be in a fabric store … it was fun to shop … here’s a picture of the damage ….
I could justify each purchase … the fabrics on the left were for one of the guild’s mystery quilts and the fabrics on the right were all flannels … necessary for backings …
Fabric Used this week Ā Ā Ā 0Ā yards
Fabric Used this year: Ā Ā Ā Ā 99 yards
Fabric BoughtĀ this week: Ā 12Ā yards
Fabric Added this year:Ā Ā Ā Ā 39.75 yardsĀ (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 58.25 yardsĀ
Husbandās purchases: Ā 0 yardsĀ (which are added into my total amount of Fabric added this year). For those of you who donāt know ā¦ my husband often buys more fabric than I do ā¦ so, Iām keeping track! Unfortunately, he doesnāt sew!
Stitchinā Time
While away, I managed to sew for 5 days … and for 6 days, I did not sew.
January ā August āĀ Ā 235 / 242
Sept āĀ 20 / 26
Total:Ā 255 / 268
Percentage =Ā 95 %Ā
For more Stitchinā Time, you can check out Kateās blog: Life in Pieces
TO DOĀ
Linda from Texas Quilt Gal is now hosting āTo Doā every week. You can check out her blog HERE.
The last To Do list: (from weeks ago)
OK ā¦ so I had over 2 weeks to accomplish my To Do list – a little bit of everything got done!
Finish quiltingĀ Island Batikās NovemberĀ project Partially done!
Finish 3rdĀ Project from Scrappy Improv Partially done!
Work onĀ Island Batikās DecemberĀ project Partially done!Ā
Write the directions for the guildāsĀ Fall MysteryĀ quilt āĀ Ā Ā done
DoĀ NOTĀ be distracted by anyĀ SQUIRRELS!Ā Ā Ā āĀ Ā Ā doneĀ
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutesĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā āĀ Ā Ā doneĀ Ā
This weekās list:
Finish quiltingĀ Island Batikās NovemberĀ project
Work on 3rdĀ Project from Scrappy Improv
Work onĀ Island Batikās DecemberĀ project
Quilt Secret Sewing BBQG mystery quilt #1
DoĀ NOTĀ be distracted by anyĀ SQUIRRELS! IĀ NEEDĀ this continual reminder!Ā
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes
PHD in 2021
Table Scraps
I have 2 Table Scraps for this month … First is my table runner and 2nd is the coaster.
This Table runner was made with scraps of Island Batik fabric … mostly from the Autumn Wings collection. Quilted with Aurifil thread, Hobbs Batting and Schmetz needles.
This coaster was made with a free pattern from Kreative Kiwi … Island Batik fabrics, Hobbs Batting and made in the hoop on my embroidery machine.
Last fall, I did some secret sewing and I couldn’t show you. The quilts were all made for the latest Island Batik catalogue. You can see all of the catalogues HERE. This quilt is in the Spring/Summer 2021 catalogue and the fabrics are available now.
This first quilt is made with the Fancy Feathers collection, by Kathy Engle along with the basic, Rice. Aren’t these fabrics absolutely wonderful?????
This quilt is called “Feather’s Chain.” Please contact me if you would like to buy the pattern. You could use a strip set (jelly roll) to make this quilt. The pattern also includes instructions on how to make the flange binding.
Quilt Stats:
Size: 68″ x 68″
Batting: Hobbs 80/20
Thread: Aurifil
Quilting: Free Motion Quilted on my domestic Janome sewing machine.
As an Island Batik Ambassador, I feel spoiled every time a box comes. In July, we received a ton of awesomeness (you can see that post HERE) and Island Batik informed us that the precuts would come at a later date. While I was away on holidays … a package arrived! Oh, it was extremely hard waiting until I got home!!! I know the neighbour wouldn’t have minded opening it for me and sending me a picture, but it was more fun to wait and open it myself! And here are the precuts I received:
The strip pack is “Midnight Dazzle” along with coordinating fabrics, Backberry and Begonia. The package of 10″ squares on the right is “Constellations” and the coordinating fabrics are Ice and Harbour. The coordinating fabrics are 2 yard cuts.
I am over the moon with these awesome fabrics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now … what do I make with them???? I only have about 2,000 ideas … I think I might need to narrow it down a bit! What a joyful dilemma!
In January, my Island Batik box contained this fantastic maple leaf die from Accuquilt. I made 2 different quilts with it.
And now, I’m using it again to make a table runner for the I’m Falling For You blog hop. What is more FALL than Fall leaves??? As well, the scrap table runner challenge for this month is Orange … so I’m making a 2-fer.
We’ve been away for almost 2 weeks. I took this with me to finish while we were travelling. (Yes, I take my featherweight and sew when I can and when we have power.) Well, I definitely was NOT meant to finish this on our trip! I didn’t take enough of the background fabric AND … once I finished the top, earlier today, I realized that I did not take enough batting or backing … groan … Anyhow, thankfully I was able to find everything I needed and get this table runner done! I stippled the background and did straight lines on the coloured portions of the leaves.
Table runner stats:
Fabric: Island Batik – from the Autumn Wings collection, background is Custard
Batting: Hobbs fusible
Quilting & Piecing: Aurifil thread
Size: 19″ x 37″
Accuquilt die: Maple Leaf
Here is the Full Schedule for the blog hop:
Be sure to visit all of the bloggers and be inspired by their “I’m Falling for You” creations!
This is a Blog Hop that I’m super excited about!!! Kelly, of My Quilt Infatuation, has a wonderful book out and it is absolutely wonderful!!! My official day is Oct. 11. But, I am too excited to wait that long (well, I’ll wait for that day for my assigned mini quilt!
Yesterday, SandraĀ @ mmm…quilts! posted her Up, Up and Away Quilt! Isn’t it great???
So, I’m going to show you my Up, Up and Away quilt. Kelly has instructions in her book on how to make the mini quilts larger. So, I followed her instructions to make this into a baby quilt. However, I must confess, I had to fudge a bit because I didn’t have quite enough background fabric.
The fabrics are all from Island Batik. But for some reason, the scraps didn’t decrease at all!! (Ya, I know, scraps multiply when you have your back turned! )
I quilted wavy up and down lines on the balloon and wavy organic lines on the background (sky).
This is one of the quilts I’ll be teaching at Essem Textiles in Cloverdale in October! Make sure you sign up and join in the fun!
Here is the full Schedule for the Blog Hop:
Scrappy Improv Quilting Blog Tour Schedule-8/31- Intro, Single Block Beauties, and Simple Shapes
This month, the Island Batik challenge is to make a bag. I choose to make the “Round Trip Duffle.” It is a pattern byAnnie. Island Batik and byAnnie made a kit with everything I need to make the Round Trip Duffle … I mean EVERYTHING!
The Island Batik fabrics that I chose for the bag – from top to bottom are:
Peacock Feather – Teal (from the Proud Peacock collection)
Whip Cream (from the Neutral collection)
Peacock Mardigras (from the Proud Peacock collection)
Paisley Dot Celery (from the Proud Peacock collection)
The key to making byAnnie bags is organization. A list of everything you need to cut is included in the pattern. I copied the list and attached it to each item as it was cut. Then I put it all up on my design wall so that it would be handy and easily found. The quilted pieces were on my ironing board.
The next step involved making all the bag components … the straps, the pockets, and so on … I’m using Aurifil thread #1148 – Light Jade with Schmetz Needles.
It’s getting exciting to see all the parts coming together!
Once it was completed, my daughter had to put her dog, Daphne, in it … believe me, that didn’t last long! (The dog in the bag … the bag was not harmed!)
I am very very happy with how this bag turned out! A friend of mine said, “It looks so professional.” That’s because byAnnie patterns are so well written! I hope to use this bag when I go on my next quilt retreat!
Disclosure: The fabrics, thread, batting and needles were generously supplied by the following companies:
Itās September and most kids are back to school ā¦ or not.Ā At any rate, the stores have all their āback to schoolā sales on.Ā Do you take advantage of these sales for your sewing room?
I do.Ā Here are some of the products I use in my sewing room and some are suggestions from other bloggers and quilters.
A flannel back tablecloth is great for a design wall ā¦ especially if Iām going sewing somewhere besides in my home.
Hair clips are great for clipping labels onto fabric
Spray bottle for water (I always use a dry iron ā¦ and I spray the fabric if I want steam)
Shelf liner ā¦ will hold your sewing machine foot in place, add it to the back of pincushions to prevent them from slipping around, and in a pinch, you can use a couple of pieces (3ā³x 3ā³) to place under your hands when you free motion quilt
Put a small square between your small rulers and your fabric – it’ll prevent the ruller from shifting
Hair ties ā place them around the thread and the bobbin and you know which bobbin goes with which thread ā¦ plus it keeps the thread from unwinding
These are the small hair ties ā¦ they are cloth covered elastics. You can see in the picture how small they are. When my thread and bobbins are in the drawer, itās super easy to figure out which bobbin goes with which spool of thread. Plus there isnāt miles of thread all over!
Notebook with grid lines ā¦ for planning that next quilt and Pencil crayons to colour your quilt
Mechanical pencils for fine lines (on the back of HST or to mark the centre of a block
Elmerās School Glue ā¦ I use this a LOT ā¦ dilute it 4 parts water to 1 part glue and itās perfect for gluing down binding or whatever needs to stay in place.
Binder clips – they are perfect to supplement your smaller clips … great when you have a large number of pieces or ???
Flag post-its, or just plain post-it notes are perfect for short-term labels.
Disappearing Elmer’s Glue Stick. These have MANY uses. I often use it to pre-baste my binding. Then when I get to the sewing machine, binding is done in a flash.
Coloured Sharpies … OK … confession here … these are great for colouring that white thread that is showing, or for outlining shapes (as per Helen Godden).
Design Wall
Piecing:
#1. The project for the “Falling for You” Blog Hop. My day is Sept. 20.
#2. Third project from Scrappy Improv … which I can’t show you until after the blog hop
Quilting:
#1 November Island Batik project is being quilted
Stash Report
No finishes this week … no stash yardage used.
Fabric Used this week Ā Ā Ā 10Ā yards
Fabric Used this year: Ā Ā Ā Ā 99 yards
Fabric BoughtĀ this week: Ā 0Ā yards
Fabric Added this year:Ā Ā Ā Ā 27.75 yardsĀ (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 70.25 yardsĀ
Husbandās purchases: Ā 0 yardsĀ (which are added into my total amount of Fabric added this year). For those of you who donāt know ā¦ my husband often buys more fabric than I do ā¦ so, Iām keeping track! Unfortunately, he doesnāt sew!
Stitchinā Time
Iām aiming for at least 30 minutes a day. Many days there are more than a few hours spent in my studio. We were away this past weekend, so there was 2 days that I did not sew.
January ā August āĀ Ā 235 / 242
Sept āĀ 5 / 5
Total:Ā 240 / 247
Percentage =Ā 97 %Ā
For more Stitchinā Time, you can check out Kateās blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
Linda from Texas Quilt Gal is now hosting āTo Doā every week. You can check out her blog HERE.
The last To Do list: (from weeks ago)
OK ā¦ so I had 2 weeks to accomplish my To Do list. I kept the list light because I want some more time to enjoy the summer! Consequently, it was easy to get it done. Iām keeping this weekās list light as well!
Complete Island Batik’s November project Partially done!
Complete 2nd Project from Scrappy ImprovāĀ Ā Ā done
Prepare more fabric for Island Batik’s December project āĀ Ā Ā done
Write the directions for the guild’s Fall Mystery quiltDoĀ NOTĀ be distracted by anyĀ SQUIRRELS!Ā Ā āĀ Ā Ā doneĀ
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutesĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā āĀ Ā Ā doneĀ Ā
This weekās list:
Finish quilting Island Batik’s November project
Finish 3rd Project from Scrappy Improv
Work on Island Batik’s December project
DoĀ NOTĀ be distracted by anyĀ SQUIRRELS! IĀ NEEDĀ this continual reminder!Ā
Are you feeling overwhelmed with the number of UFOs? Try just taking one UFO and focus on it. Perhaps write down all the steps you need to do to complete it. Even if the list is LONG … tackle the first step. I promise that you will feel much better about it! Then later, or tomorrow, tackle the next step. Pretty soon it will be done!
My PHD tally hasn’t changed a lot. Well, no UFOs are finished, but quite a few of the Starts in 2021 are completed. I’ve been working a LOT of my November Island Batik challenge. I am SEW glad that I started early! It’s taking a LOT of time and a LOT of concentration. You’ll see why in November.
GROAN …. How do I choose which quilt is my favourite when I think I made 3 fantastic quilts? I know I’m biased … but I LOVE each one of these quilts!
DrEAMi
This month, I had a DrEAMi … (Drop Everything And Make it) This was a pattern from Sandra Walker (from Musings of a Menopausal Melon) and after seeing that several people made it … I just HAD to. The pattern is “Let Your Star Shine.” You can get the pattern from Sandra’s Etsy shop: HERE. It is a pretty quick quilt to make!
A NEW Blog Hop
Kelly Young has a AWESOME new book that has just been published. She is having a blog hop starting later in September. This book is fantastic! There are 22 mini quilts and they are SEW easy to make.
If you check out Kelly’s blog, My Quilt Infatuation she has an overview of the book HERE.
I have made one mini quilt for the blog hop and am in the process of making another for myself. I will show it to you after the blog hop is over. I don’t want to ruin the surprise of all the mini quilts that you will see during the blog hop.
I must say that this book is really well written! (I have my own copy!) The directions are easy to follow and there are a ton of fun projects to make!
If you live locally, Essem Textiles has the book in their store.
I will be teaching classes of projects from this book in October at Essem Textiles. Dates are TBA.
Rainbow Scrap Table Topper
The monthly table topper is run by So Srappy. The colour for August was aqua. I wanted to try a paper pieced Storm at Sea block … so that’s what I made! It’s 15″ square. Made with Island Batik fabrics, Hobbs fusible batting and Aurifil Dove thread.
Design Wall
Piecing:
#1. November Island Batik project
It’s being paper pieced, and the project is a secret … but I can show you this …
#2. Second project from Scrappy Improv … which I can’t show you until after the blog hop
Quilting:
Nothing at the moment!
Stash Report
The backings from the 3 “favourite” quilts this month, plus the aqua table topper were all from my stash and totalled 11 yards.
Fabric Used this week 11yards
Fabric Used this year: 99 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 27.75 yards (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used 70.25 yards
Husbandās purchases: 0 yards (which are added into my total amount of Fabric added this year). For those of you who donāt know ā¦ my husband often buys more fabric than I do ā¦ so, Iām keeping track! Unfortunately, he doesnāt sew!
Stitchinā Time
Iām aiming for at least 30 minutes a day. Many days there are more than a few hours spent in my studio. We were away this past weekend, so there was 2 days that I did not sew.
January ā July ā 209/211
August ā 26/29
Total: 235 / 240
Percentage = 98 %
For more Stitchinā Time, you can check out Kateās blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
Chris from ChrisKnits is hosting āTo Doā every week. You can check out her blog HERE.
The last To Do list: (from weeks ago)
OK ā¦ so I had 2 weeks to accomplish my To Do list. I kept the list light because I want some more time to enjoy the summer! Consequently, it was easy to get it done. Iām keeping this weekās list light as well!
Piece and Quilt Let Your Star Shine ā done
Start Aqua Table Topper for the monthly Table Topper challenge ā done
Start āOrange you Gladā project! ā done
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! ā done
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutesā done
This weekās list:
Complete Island Batik’s November project
Complete 2nd Project from Scrappy Improv
Prepare more fabric for Island Batik’s December project
Write the directions for the guild’s Fall Mystery quilt
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder!
Hi! Apparently several people are unable to link up to the mystery quilt linky party. Here are their quilts:
This one is Joyce’s … she used a black background. Pretty cool, eh? And check out that 2 coloured binding!
This is my good friend, Betty’s. I’ve known Betty for a zillion years and have gone to many many retreats with her! I was thrilled when I found out that she had followed along and did the mystery! She still has to add the border, but what a pretty quilt!
This one is from Chere, a member of the Chilliwack guild. What a fantastic use of stripes!
And another member of the Chilliwack guild, Charlene, made this one. I love the use of red as the background!
And Here is mine … again
Don’t forget to …
Click on this link for an opportunity to win the beautiful “Sticks ‘n Stones” precuts!
Here’s some pictures of quilts from people who are unable to link to the Linky Party:
This is Robin’s – all quilted! The star points certainly pull out the pink in the focus squares. Lovely!
And here’s the back of Robins … she made some extra stars … plus you can really see the quilting on the back!
And here’s Deb R’s quilt … she says “I went with baby quilt size so there will be a total of five rows with one border around all. The border will be the flowered material (shown). Won’t it be a lovely baby quilt?
This is Donna H’s … the middle of the stars is from a Moda digital print. Donna says, “I didnāt fussy cut them so there are a wide range of hues. The 3 contrast fabrics are batiks that pulled some of the colours from the print.” I Love the variety of the star centres …
Here’s what Alice C says about hers, “I have really enjoyed it and learned a new technique with the flying geese. That was a cool way of doing it.” She has perfect flying geese!
Here’s Judy’s … I love the contrast between the dark and light!
Linky Party
Link up and show us your mystery quilt! It doesn’t matter if it isn’t completely finished! It’s just fun to see all of the different looks that fabric choices make!
