Friday’s

A Fun Friday Finish! May 26

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I LOVE having quilty finishes!

This was a Hugs and Kisses quilt that used various Island Batik blues and greens. I used the Accuquilt Go! to cut the pieces: Die #10 from the ‘Corners’ 8″ Qube collection paired with Die #5 from the 8″ Qube set. It made piecing the Hugs and Kisses very simple. Each Hugs or Kisses block uses 4 mini blocks composed of 1 Die #10 and 2 Die #5. Then the blocks are arranged to form a Hug or a Kiss. I added sashing and borders and the quilt was a flimsy!

Unfortunately, I didn’t count very well and I had too many green blocks … so I cut some pinks and purples and I’ll show you that quilt next week (if it’s finished!)

One person that saw this quilt called it my “Sea Hawks” quilt. I’m not a sports fan … but I know lots of people that are and I get that it’s the colours of the team!

Hobbs 80/20 is in the middle and I used Odif 505 spray baste to hold the layers together.

I was zoom quilting with my sister and cousins at the beginning of the month. I wasn’t sure how to quilt it, but I knew I wanted an all-over pattern. My cousin, Terry (machine quilter extraordinaire! ) suggested these curly c’s that go every which way and back-track on themselves. I gave it a try, I must admit, the back-tracking was not fun, but it was well worth it in the end and I LOVE the look! I’ll be using that random pattern again! Thanks, Terry for your fabulous suggestion!!!

I was Featured

Andree from Free Motion Quilters featured my Studio 180 Wedge Star Quilt with Island Batik Sandalwood fabric collection. You can read about it HERE.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

You Never Know

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A few years ago, Patti participated in a Stay at Home Round Robin … she diligently sent me photos of her progress … then decided she was DONE. She can’t remember if she put it on the “Free” table or put it somewhere else … but it was out of her hands … she was done with it!

Fast forward to the present day …

Patti is on the “Comfort Quilt Committee” for our guild (Boundary Bay Quilter’s Guild). She was given a quilt that was donated for the cancer centre. She absolutely HAD to show it to me … Can you see why????

And here you can really see Patti’s started SAHRR …

The lady that picked up the discarded SAHRR added lots of her own fabrics and made a super beautiful quilt …

Sew, You Never Know!

IB Blog Hop is Over

Island Batik has had a blog hop over the last 3 weeks. Did you see it? It featured Studio 180 Tools and new fabric lines.

I was given the “Sandalwood” collection, designed by Kathy Engle for Kari Nichols of Quilting Renditions and the Wedge Star Tool. You can read more about this quilt, the fabric and the tool HERE. It was a lot of fun to make! I was especially thrilled when I had PERFECTLY pieced star centres (well, on most of them!)

And here’s the back and a close up of the quilting.

If you would like to see a recap of all of the quilts from the hop, (without visiting each blog) visit Island Batik’s blog HERE.

I Was Featured

Jennifer, from  Inquiring Quilter and Andree from Quilting and Learning – what a combo … featured my 2nd Baby Stars quilt on her blog.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

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An Alberta Quilt Show and a Friday Finish!

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Central Alberta Quilt Show

Are you going??? This Quilt Show is known to be one of the best!!! It’s in Red Deer. On Friday, May 12 & Saturday, May 13.

Exhibition Hall, Westerner Park

4847 – 19 St. Red Deer Alberta T4R 2N7

I’m super excited about this show. My friend, Carmen, who owns Prairie Spirit Alpacas, will be there with her Alpaca/wool pressing mats …. If you see her … say “hi” and tell her that you “know” me! 😀.

PLUS: she will be selling a lot of my patterns!

PLUS: she will have this quilt there … It’s made with the Baby Stars pattern in Island Batik fabrics and the batting is Alpaca fleece. It will be a super super warm quilt!!! It was quilted on my domestic Janome M7. The Alpaca fleece certainly gives the quilting great texture! The fleece was doubled for this quilt, but I think it would have been just as good, if not better, with a single layer!

And this is my Friday Finish!

This is the original Baby Stars, it’s the picture you’ll see on my pattern … photo credit: Jerry Khiev, Island Batik.

Let me know if you buy a pattern, a mat, or some wool … buy some alpaca batting if you want to try it!

Retreat

I just came back from a 4 day retreat! LOTS of fun!!! I’ll tell you all about it on Sunday!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

Friday’s Finish: April 28

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This is my Melodic Mystery. Meadow Mist designs has a mystery quilt each year! I LOVE her patterns and the variety of quilts is amazing! Although I had the top done in time for the parade, I didn’t have it quilted … so I didn’t enter it into the parade. You can see the post with the parade HERE.

It was totally made from my stash. I used to collect Kansas Troubles, so it was easy to pull out a few charm packs and coordinating fabrics.

Here’s a picture of the quilting on the back. I did use Silly Moon “beanie” for the orange peal quilting and “rocket” for the straight line quilting … the rest was FMQ. Hobbs 80/20 is in the middle.

Cheryl has 7 mystery quilts and the clues are still available on her blog. You can check them out HERE. She will be hosting another mystery quilt starting in July 6. It will be called “Malted Mystery.” I’m pretty sure I’ll be joining in!

Trunk Show

In my last post, I told you that I had done a trunk show in person, in Hope, BC. I also mentioned that because my husband was helping to hold up the quilts, I didn’t get any pictures. Well, Maureen saw the post and immediately sent me a bundle of pictures! Thank you Maureen for being so willing to share your photos!

I started with some of my older quilts (not shown), then what my husband calls the “Bonnie Hunter years” (first 3 quilts – although I showed more of them.) Then a collection of Island Batik quilts with an Irish chain thrown in (from a class I teach). And I finished with several mini quilts.

Here is a selection of them:

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

Friday’s Finish: April 21

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This is my finished Bonnie Hunter Mystery: Chilhowie. I used scraps of Island Batik to make this. Interestingly, I still have a LOT of scraps left!!!

Quilt Stats:

  • size: 78″ x 78″
  • fabrics: Island Batik scraps from many collections
  • batting: Hobbs 80/20
  • Quilted and Pieced with Aurifil thread #2600: Dove Grey
  • Wild Quilting: anything goes.

When you make a quilt as busy as this one, it’s a great quilt to do wild or graffiti quilting. It was a LOT of fun to quilt!!! I demonstrated wild quilting at a guild function … it was fun to have different people tell me what to quilt next. And yes, I did have a page full of motifs that are appropriate for wild quilting!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

Crazy Quilts Challenge with Aurifil

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We were challenged to make a Crazy Quilt using the Colour Builder thread set that Aurifil provided us with! The project could be any size and anything! We were to use decorative stitches to highlight the thread.

I was given “Golden Shrimp Plant.” This plant is from Peru and is “also known as the Golden Candle Plant ...
It attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and is resistant to deer … it is a popular houseplant.”
This information and the pictures below are from Aurifil: https://www.aurifil.com/golden-shrimp-plant

I decided to use a 10″ stack of Island Batik‘s Opulent Orange. Aren’t they absolutely gorgeous? I paired it with “Marble Frog.” I originally was thinking grey or black, but I really liked Marble Frog much better!

First, I cut (20) 10″ squares of Hobbs Batting, 80/20 batting.

20 squares of Opulent Orange were divided into groups of 4.

I pressed all of the squares on my Prairie Spirit Alpacas mat. Then I chose a group of 4 squares and placed them on the cutting mat.

Then I randomly cut the stack of 4 squares. Then I arranged the fabrics so that each one was in a different location. The top left segment had the top fabric placed to the bottom of the pile. The top right segment had the top 2 fabrics placed to the bottom of the pile. The bottom right segment had the top 3 fabrics placed to the bottom of the pile. Each set of blocks (there are 4) was pinned to a 10″ square of batting

Then the Quilt-as-you-go started.

  • the first 2 pieces were sewn with right sides together
  • the seam was pressed
  • A decorative stitch was sewn from end to end

The next pieces were sewn into place. First the gold fabric, then the orange fabric

The block was then squared to 9 1/2” square. A 1/2” line was drawn around the cut block. The picture shows both the 3/4” line and the 1/2” line. You only need to mark the 1/2” line. Cut the sashing strip at 2″ wide. The sashing was lined up against this line and sewn on with a 1/4” seam. The last picture shows the sashing pressed into place.

I used my Stitch in the Ditch foot to guide the stitches and Schmetz Needles for the stitching.

A KID IN A CANDY SHOP!!!

I had a blast picking different decorative stitches to use! I used over 100 different stitches. I remember when I bought my Janome M7, they were emphasizing how many decorative stitches it had. I laughed! When would I ever use them?? Well, now the laugh is on me. I used almost every one!

I was telling my husband how much fun it was to use all the different stitches. He said I was behaving like a Kid in a Candy Shop! So that’s name of the quilt!

The picture below shows the variations of the different threads.

A photo shoot on the rocks in my neighbours front yard.

And, my usual clothes line picture!

Where can I buy Opulent Orange Stack?

The following places have it for sale:

Thank you!

Disclosure: The fabrics, batting, thread and needles were generously supplied by the following companies: Thank you, Island Batik,  Aurifil Thread,  Hobbs Batting,  Schmetz Needles, & Prairie Spirit Alpacas!!

Island Batik Ambassadors

Make sure you visit all of the Island Batik Ambassadors to see the wonderful projects they are creating!

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting
Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts
Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts
Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts
Reed Johnson ~ Blue Bear Quilts
Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You
Randi Jones ~ Randi’s Roost

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Denise Looney ~ Quiltery – For The Love Of Geese
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine

Anorina Morris ~ sameliasmum.com
Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique
Claudia Porter ~ Create with Claudia
Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts

Elita Sharpe ~ Busy Needle
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail. You’re HERE!
Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

A Fun Retreat!

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We were at Over The Rainbow Lodge on Camano Island for almost a week. It’s a beautiful place to retreat! And, since we’re an established group, we’re booked in until 2030!!!! WOOHOO!!!

I think all 12 people that attended the retreat enjoyed themselves … lots and lots of sewing and laughter!

We took turns cooking supper and had fabulous gourmet meals!!! DELICIOUS!!!

As I was preparing this blog post, I realized that I didn’t get any pictures of the food, the snack counter (TONS!), or of the 12 people sewing in one room and having fun!

I didn’t get a picture of each of the projects that people were working on … there was a great variety and a LOT of creativity happening! Here’s a few pictures of what was happening:

Pillow cases, kits from quilts, jelly roll quilts, quilts using templates, hand sewn hexi quilt, tiny tiny pieces, 3 yard quilts, scrappy quilts, coordinated quilts …. so many different things happening!

I know someone is going to ask … the dog chart was found on Pinterest and Kandy used 5″ blocks to make the quilt.

What did I work on?

I attempted to quilt my Melodic Mystery, but it was difficult on a smaller machine, eventually I gave up. The Black & white photo is of an Island Batik catalogue quilt and the top is completed! The blocks for the X’s & O’s were completed and the top is almost done. I just need to add the border …

The Melodic Mystery is made with Kansas Troubles fabric. The other 2 quilts are Island Batik fabric. The X’s & O’s were cut with Accuquilt

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

PHD in 2023: March Report

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Did you decide to join us with PHD in 2023???

Are you determined to finish a bunch of UFOs and to NOT increase the number of quilts or projects on your UFO list???

Congratulations on making that choice!!!

Let’s re-visit Procrastination!

OK … this is me … today

This week I’ve been SEW busy, I honestly can’t believe where the time has gone!

First, it was working with the hosts of the SAHRR to choose the winners, contact the sponsors and just get everything organized. Finally, on Wednesday, the last piece was put into place. (see the list of winners below).

Then, I was attempting to finish 2 quilts before I leave for the retreat. Neither will get totally finished.

Next, I need to gather all the junk wonderful fabric and supplies that I want to take.

  • Project #1: cutting fabric, counting blocks, making sure that I have enough pieces (baby stars #2)
  • Same for Project #2. (X & Os)
  • Project #3 is ready. (haven’t touched it since I went to the last retreat!) (UFO – wallet)
  • Project #4 I need to figure out what thread I’m going to use for quilting … (Melodic Mystery)
  • Project #5. …. Really Gail, do you NEED to take 5 projects? But I will take the Island Batik catalogue quilt … just in case I run out of things to do!

This retreat has us doing our own cooking … so there was baking involved … and gathering food items.

I need clean clothes to take to the retreat – so there’s laundry to do …

So … what do I do now?

First, I need to take a deep breath and realize that I can’t do everything!!!

Prioritize what NEEDS to be done.

  • First, I can’t possibly finish the 2 quilts before I go. So they will have to wait.
  • My laundry must be done. I can’t take dirty clothes to a retreat when I’m surrounded by other people!
  • Do I really need to do the baking? Can I buy what I was going to bake? Of course I can!
  • Do I need to gather food items? Yes.
  • Do I need to prepare projects for the retreat? Absolutely!!!

My Tally Sheets

I finished 1 UFOs this month. It’s my SAHRR ’23!!! I’m in LOVE with this quilt! (it used Island Batik fabrics, Aurifil thread and Hobbs batting). You can read more about it HERE.

4 NEW starts were finished this month. The Little Green Apple Clam-Up bags, the bags for the guild, the Ruler Quilting Quilt and the Bargello Quilt. All used Island Batik fabrics, except for the bags for the guild.

If you want to keep track of your own progress, please feel free to download the 2023 Template.

template-2023Download

Here’s my Task Sheet of my UFOs. This helps me keep track of what I’ve accomplished and what I need to do.

You can download your own Task list from Ms P Designs HERE.

Linky Party

Show us your progress with your PHD in 2023!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef

SAHRR Winners!

Here’s a list of the winners! Congratulations to each one! And a special “Thank YOU” to all of the sponsors! We couldn’t have done it without your generous gifts!

  • Island Batik fat quarter bundle:  Mari @ Academic Quilter
  • Island Batik fat quarter bundle: Julie Ann @ Quilts and Costumes
  • Island Batik fat quarter bundle: Janice @ Sing Read Sew.com
  • Hobbs Wool Batt: Bernie @ Needle & Foot
  • Aurfil Thread:  Heather F
  • Oliso Mini Iron : Laura Kate @ Daily Fiber Fun
  • Pattern from For the Love of Geese (Denise): Dawn at Quilting by Dawn
  • Prairie Spirit Alpaca Pressing Mat: Diann at Little Penguin Quilts
  • Gift Certificate of choice from Chris: Carol @ Quilt Schmidt
  • Fat Quarter Shop Gift Certificate: Gretchen from Gretchen’s Little Quilts
  • MSQ Gift Certificate from Roseanne: Joy at The Joyful Quilter

And again, the picture of Roseanne, Anja, Gail & Emily doing the draw! We had the list, a random number generator and a fun time!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail PHD

Linking to:

A Finish I can Finally tell you about!

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The May/June issue of McCalls Quilting is now on the magazine racks!

The quilt arrived at my house the same day that I found the magazine in the grocery store!! This is a picture of the quilt that I took in mid-October, the day before it was sent to Colorado for it’s photo shoot.

Island Batik fabrics are used for this quilt! Wild Blooms is the colourful fabrics and will be available in stores in May. The rich dark blue is “Ravine” and is perfect for setting off the star!

If you want the pattern for this quilt, it is included in the magazine!

Quilt Stats:

  • 68″ x 68″
  • Hobbs 80/20 is in the middle
  • Quilted with Aurifil Thread
  • The back is “Ravine,” an Island Batik basic.

I was Featured!

Jennifer, from Inquiring Quilter featured my SAHRR quilt! I was thrilled to see that 4 other SAHRR quilts were also featured! See THIS POST for more details

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

A March Finish and TGIFF

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TGIFF

TGIFF is Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday. There is a linky party every week.

You can link up your FINISHED project here. The link opens at 2 PM (PST) and will remain until midnight (PST) on Saturday, March 18. I can’t wait to see your finishes!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef

My TGIFF this week

Earlier this week, I showed you a picture of my finished SAHRR ’23!

I’m in LOVE with this quilt! It was so fun to host the SAHRR with 5 blogging friends! I couldn’t have done it without them!

My blog post with the Parade of all of the finished (or almost finished) SAHRR can be found HERE. I started this quilt in the fall, and with the recent finish, it counts as one of my completed UFOs! YAY!!!

Quilt Stats

  • Size: 48″ x 58″
  • Pieced and Quilted with Aurifil Thread #2311 – Muslin
  • Hobbs 80/20 batting inside
  • All pieced blocks and appliques were cut with Accuquilt dies
    • Go! Birds (BBQG guild)
    • Rose of Sharon. (BBQG guild)
    • Qube 8″ dies (my collection)
  • Fabric used: Baby Bloomers collection (by Kathy Engle for Karen Overton) along with solid white

I was Featured!

Jennifer from Inquiring Quilter featured my Baby Stars quilt!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

A Finish … Baby Stars

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This quilt was finished quite a while ago for Island Batik’s catalogue. Quite awhile ago, I designed it, made it and sent it to California for it’s own photo shoot. Jerry Khiev of Island Batik always does a fabulous job with the photography and makes the quilts look fantastic!

This was made with the Bamboo Blooms collection by Kathy Engle and to quote Island Batik’s Instagram post, “Inspired by the classic Asian motifs, the line features mums, cherry blossoms, and ginkgo leaf designs in a vibrant color palette of pink, magenta, blue, turquoise and green that are sure to make a statement.”

It truly is a fabulous and fun collection.

Bamboo Blooms is available at the following stores. The stores may have Strip Sets (2.5″ strips), Stacks (10″ squares) or yardage.

  • A Royal Quilt Shop: Longs, SC
  • Appletree Fabrics, Auburn, MA
  • Cotton & Chocolate: Sim Valley, CA
  • Creations Quilt Shop: Clouquet, MN
  • Pine Tree Quilt Shop: Salem, NH
  • Sew N Bee Cozy-AK: Seward, AK
  • Swifty Stitches-CA: Carmichael, CA

Quilt Stats:

  • Size: 44″ x 44″
  • Cut with Accuquilt 8″ Qube dies
  • Pieced and Quilted with Aurifil Thread
  • Free Motion Quilted on my domestic Janome M7
  • Hobbs 80/20 batting is on the inside

Quilt Pattern is available with both regular rotary cutting and Accuquilt directions. Please email me if you are interested (quiltinggail@yahoo.ca)

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

Ohhh … a Friday Finish for March 3

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I actually have 23 finishes for today! What???? 23 you ask???

Well, yes. The guild has requested that members make small bags for our guild show in 2024. I went through some of my stash and found fabric that absolutely does not go with any other fabric that I have. I cut out the bags, marked the opening lines and used the bags as a ‘leader and ender’ project. It actually didn’t seem to take long to make them as they were done while I was working on other projects!

Scissors

Do you have good sewing scissors? I used to, but over the years, they have become “not so good.” Maybe from cutting paper patterns when cutting out fabric? Maybe someone ‘borrowed’ them without my knowledge. Whatever the reason … they are not like they should be.

One day in January, I was teaching at Essem and they had received some scissors. The price was very good and I thought I’d give them a try! Well, they are absolutely FANTASTIC!!!! They cut through fabric, like butter. So very smooth and very sharp!

I don’t see the scissors on the website, but I know if you contact them, they can send you some!

I’ll be Teaching

On March 25, I’ll be teaching “Hugs and Kisses” at Essem. Phone or email them to reserve your spot in the class! You can read more about this quilt HERE.

Winner of Island Batik Fabric

When I posted my February Island Batik Puff Quilt, (see HERE), I said I would have a give-away.

Today, I used a random generator and it chose #33, which is Carol. I have sent her an email and the fabric will be shipped to her within the next week.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to:

What? Another February Finish?

/ quiltinggail / 18 Comments

A friend sent me this! It made me laugh out loud. It reminded me of when we first met when taking a Free Motion Quilting class! A few of the comments that were made (and will remain private for now) had us in stitches. That friend has become a fantastic Free Motion Quilter! So, I’d say it was a good class!!! And we have always encouraged each other to free motion quilt and try something new! This brings smiles to my face!

Yup, another February Finish!

It seems like I’m on a roll here!

I posted this quilt on Wednesday for the Sweet on You blog hop. You can read about it HERE!

I hope to be teaching a class at Essem for this quilt. It’s quick and easy, but I also have some tricks up my sleeve to make it even easier! We haven’t decided on a date yet, but once we do, Essem will be announcing it in their newsletter.

Quilt Stats:

  • Fabrics: Island Batik scraps paired with Island Batik’s solid white.
  • Size: 48″ x 48″
  • Pieced with Aurifil #2600 Dove Grey
  • Quilted with Glide thread “Peacock” using mostly 4″ Cupid ruler (Silly Moon) with the occasional 3″ heart.
  • Hobbs 80/20 on the inside
  • Scrappy binding

A DrEAMI as well

Sandra, from MMM Quilts, hosts a linky party every month for DrEAMI. If you’re not aware, DrEAMI stands from DRop Everything And Make It. So I did – sort-of.

Days Filled with Joy is hosting a “One Gift a Month” challenge. February’s gift is a Heart Shaped Zipper Pouch. See HERE for the tutorial.

It doesn’t use a lot of fabric! I used Island Batik fabric from a Stash Builder bundle. I also used scraps of Hobbs 80/20 batting and Aurifil thread for piecing and top stitching.

These are perfect for earbuds! And, I think they are super cute as well! These were both made in an afternoon – and I was also working on something else at the same time! So EASY PEASY!

I’ve been Featured!

Jennifer, from  Inquiring Quilter, Kelly from My Quilt Infatuation and Andrée from Quilting & Learning – What a combo! featured my puff quilt. You can read about it HERE.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

Another February Friday Finish

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This puff quilt was made for Island Batik‘s February challenge.

I like the back as much as the front!

This quilt was made with fabric from the Fruit and Veggies (designed by Kathy Engle) collection. This collection is available at Creekside Quilts in Oregon. (BTW – they carry a LOT of Island Batik fabric!)

It was pieced with Pieced with Aurifil Thread #2625 (Arctic Ice), Bound with Aurifil Thread #2890 (Very Dark Grass Green) and Schmetz Needles: Microtex Chrome 80/12.

You can read more about how I made this quilt HERE.

Two opportunities to win!

First: Go  HERE to Island Batik’s blog and follow the Rafflecopter prompts.

Second: I am giving away over 1 yard of fabric from the Fruits and Veggies collection. Leave a comment on my blog stating what you like about this collection and what you might make with the fabric if you were to win. This is open to anyone in Canada or the USA. I will use a number generator to randomly pick the winner when the blog hop is completed.

I was Featured!

Jennifer from Inquiring Quilter, Andrée from Quilting and Learning, and Kelly from My Quilt Infatuation all featured the Lone Star Quilt I posted last week! You can read more about this quilt HERE.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

Another February Friday Finish!

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In December, I needed to make a Lone Star Quilt for my Island Batik challenge. I made this pink Lone Star using Baby Bloomers (a signature collection by Kathy Engle for Karen Overton). You can read more about it HERE.

I LOVED this quilt SEW much, I went to my Island Batik pre-cuts and found a strip pack of Naturescape (by Jerry Khiev) which came with a 2 yard cut of “Large Netting – Pineneedle” (a dark green). It was the PERFECT fabric for my centre star and to radiate out to the star points.

Enter EQ8, to plan it! I downloaded the Naturescape fabrics and the dark green into the program. Paired it with the solid grey.

It’s a totally different look than the pink one, but I like it! Here are some pictures of the quilt in progress. I’m not a great pinner, but for this quilt, I measured and pinned EVERY. SINGLE. INTERSECTION. And, for the most part, the seams were pretty good. But I’d be lying if I told you that everyone was perfect!

And here’s a picture of it finished! I quilted it with Aurifil #2615

I quilted it the same as the previous lone star – with small arcs in the diamonds and fake feathers on the grey!

Quilt Stats

  • Fabric: Island Batik Naturescape strip pack, solid grey and Large Netting – Pineneedle
  • Size: 62″ x 62″
  • Hobbs 80/20 on the inside
  • I quilted it with Aurifil #2615 (Aluminium) on my Domestic Machine (Janome M7)
  • Bound with Large Netting – Pineneedle

Will I make another Lone Star Quilt? Probably, but not for awhile! LOL!!! You know … pinning all the intersections … (grin)

And, just for the record, this is my 2nd UFO finish for February! WooHoo!!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to:

February’s First Friday’s Finish

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I told you earlier this week that I was joining a challenge called “One Gift a Month.” I showed you the start of the project.

Well, I worked on it for a bit and finished it!

It was an easy project to make! If I were to make it again (if I remember this), I would make the boxed corners on the lining about 1/4″ larger so that the lining would be a bit smaller and fit into the main part of the basket without extra fabric floating around.

I used “Deco Revival” fabric from Island Batik. It was pieced, quilted and top stitched with Aurifil #2581 (Dark Dusty Grape).

Upcoming Blog Hops

Island Batik: February Blog Hop! (My day is February 13)

Moose Stash Quilting: Sew It – Show It: Sweet on You (my day is February 22)

Beaquilter: Dust off a Quilt Book (Mar 7)

Just Let Me Quilt: Little Green Apples (March)

The next 4 weeks have LOTS of eye candy for you!!! The Island Batik Ambassadors have mad a Puff Quilt from their assigned collections! I’ve seen glimpses of some of them … you are in for a treat!

The pictures below give you a taste of some of the designs in each collection. Which is your favourite?

Week 1:

February 6:

Emily Leachman @ The Darling Dogwood Bits and Pieces

Sarah Pitcher @ Pitcher’s Botique

February 7:

Claudia Porter @ Create with Claudia

Brenda Alburl @ Songbird Designs

February 8

Elita Sharpe @ Busy Needle

Reed Johnston @ Blue Bear Quilts

February 9:

Preeti Harris@ Sew Preeti Quilts

Suzy Webster @ Webster Quilts

February 10:

(Island Batik posts: Blog Hop Week 1 Round Up + giveaway)

Week 2:

February 13:

Denise Looney @ For the Love of Geese

Gail Sheppard @ Quilting Gail

February 14:

Sandra Starley @ Textile Times

Anorina Morris @ Samilia’s Mum

February 15:

Susan Deshensky @ Lady Blue Quilts

Randy Jones @ Randi’s Roost

February 16:

Renee Atkinson @ Pink Tulip Quilting

February 17:

(Island Batik posts: Blog Hop Week 2 Round Up + giveaway)

Week 3:

February 20:

Brittany Fisher @ Bobbin’ with Brittany

Lisa Pickering @ Lisa’s Quilting Passion

February 21:

Mania Hatziioannidi @ Mania for Quilts

Victoria Johnson @ Forever Quilting 4 You

February 22:

Pamela Boatright @ Pamela Quilts

Lana Russel @ Lana Quilts

February 23:

Jennifer Thomas @ Curlicue Creations

Maryellen McAuliffe @ Mary Mack Made Mine

February 24:

(Island Batik: Blog Hop Week 3 Round Up + giveaway)

Week 4:

February 27:

Connie Kauffman @ Kauffman Designs

Leah Malasky @ Quilted Delights

February 28:

(Island Batik: End of Blog Hop + Final Round Up)

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

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Shades of Blue: Sew It – Show It Challenge

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In November, Carla from Creatin’ in the Sticks announced the Sew It – Show It Challenge: Shades of Blue. How could I resist? Blue is my absolute favourite colour!!

I have a LOT of blue flying geese and half-square triangles that I have made as a leader and ender project. I put them together to make these 3 table toppers. (All different sizes since my table tops are different sizes!) They use all sorts of Island Batik fabrics from my Island Batik scraps. That means that they were left-overs from some projects and pieces from stash-builder rolls.

Hobbs batting (80/20) is in the middle and they are Free-motion quilted with Aurifil #2600 (Dove Grey).

I taught a binding class to a wonderful group of ladies this week and thought these 3 little table toppers would be perfect for demonstrating my easy method of machine binding!

Here’s a closeup of 2 different stitches that can be used for securing the binding down.

Here’s the list of all the “Shades of Blue” Blog Hoppers. They all have awesome “blue” projects and it’s well worth visiting each and every one of them!

Monday, January 23rd

Tuesday, January 24th

Wednesday, January 25th

Thursday, January 26th

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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A Friday Finish!!

/ quiltinggail / 14 Comments

SAHRR has started

This is my centre block using Island Batik’s Baby Bloomer’s by Kathy Engle with Island Batik solid white as the background. You can read more about it HERE and see all the wonderful centre blocks that others have chosen!

I started this little mini wall hanging when I was at a retreat last week. It was a partial kit that came in Missouri Star’s Advent Christmas box. We were given a full charm pack of Kona solids, but since I LOVE blue so much, I picked out the blues for the border.

Since it is a wall hanging, I didn’t worry too much about getting all the letters sewn into place and I just quilted it with a wavy stitch with my walking foot, using Aurifil thread. I had the perfect size piece of Hobbs Poly-down for the batting.

I didn’t have binding fabric with me at the retreat and I didn’t want to go shopping for fabric. I’m trying really hard to stick to a very strict “no buying fabric” diet. So, the project needed to wait until I got home.

In my stash, I had the perfect solid navy blue for the binding. It didn’t take too long and the project was trimmed, binding cut and sewn on. And ta-da!!! it’s DONE!!!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

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My 5th Year as an Island Batik Ambassador!

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And, I’m SEW excited to join with this group of talented quilters! It promises to be a fun fun year!

Make sure that you are following each one so that you don’t miss out on the fantastic and diverse projects everyone creates!

From left to right:

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting
Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts
Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts
Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts
Reed Johnson ~ Blue Bear Quilts
Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You
Randi Jones ~ Randi’s Roost

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Denise Looney ~ Quiltery – For The Love Of Geese
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine

Anorina Morris ~ sameliasmum.com
Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique
Claudia Porter ~ Create with Claudia
Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts

Elita Sharpe ~ Busy Needle
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail
Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

Friday ??? no finishes

On this first Friday of 2023, I don’t have any finishes … however, I do have many things partially done …

My Stay at Home Round Robin is close to being finished … but of course, I can’t show you until March … but you can watch my progress, starting January 16!

Would you be interested to know that we have several awesome sponsors and will be giving away prizes when the SAHRR is over??? So make sure you join us for the fun!

Bonnie Hunter Mystery

This is her latest mystery quilt. Chilhowie with Island Batik fabrics! I’m all caught up except for the clue and reveal that came out today. If you’ve ever done a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, you know that it involves a LOT of little pieces and can be quite time consuming. The first picture is the blocks in progress and the 2nd picture is the blocks as they are today. Now, I just need to do the final steps!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

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Announcing SAHRR 2023

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Earlier this year, as we had a parade for the SAHRR (pronounced Stay At Home Round Robin), we announced that we would be doing it again in 2023.

For the past 3 years, I have done a SAHRR and have made different quilts. The first year I did it on my own and then for the next 2 years, I had some fantastic blogging/quilting friends join in the fun!

Here’s the quilts from previous SAHRRs. The two on the are from 2022 & 2021 and the two on the right are ones I did on my own. It’s so much MORE fun with others! Here’s the LINK where you can see all the quilts made last year.

What’s a Round Robin?

This is a common activity in many quilt guilds. A round robin (in quilting terms) is where each person makes a centre block. This block is put in a bag or container, maybe with extra fabric, perhaps with a notebook, and the bag is passed onto another quilter in the group. They are given instructions as to what kind of border (or round) they are to add on to the quilt. Sometimes the next person will make a border for each side, or one side or two sides of the block. It’s then passed on to another quilter and it continues on … when the quilt centre and all the borders are completed, it is returned to the original maker of the centre block.

So, I stay at home?

That’s correct! You and your centre block and the borders all stay home. You have to make the decisions as to what to add when given directions. How big, how many … it’s up to you.

How do I join?

There’s nothing to join, no sign up. All you need to do is follow our blogs.

How often does this happen?

On January 16, we will show you our centre blocks … I haven’t seen any of my friends blocks – so it’s going to be a surprise for each of us. This will give you some ideas of what you can make or use (do you have orphan blocks?)

Then on January 23 (and each Monday following) we will give you instructions as to what the next border/round is to be. Again, we will all show you our centre blocks with the first border to give you some ideas.

Here are my blogging co-leaders in the order of what we will be doing and the linky parties we will be holding each week. (There will only be one linky party each week … and we’ll direct you to it …)

  • January 16: I will host the first linky party … for you to show each of your centre blocks … but you’ll have to visit each of the SAHRR co-host bloggers to see their centre blocks
  • January 23: 1st Round: Roseanne & Sue @ Home Sewn by Us
  • January 30 :  2nd Round: Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
  • February 6: 3rd Round: Chris @ Chrisknitssews
  • February 13: 4th Round: Anja @ Anja Quilts
  • February 20: 5th Round: Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
  • February 27: 6th Round: ME!!! @ Quilting Gail 
  • March 13: Parade – showing all of your finished SAHRRs!

This Year we have Sponsors!

We reached out to several companies that we all LOVE and many of them agreed to sponsor the SAHRR 2023!!! We will keep track of all of the participants that link to our Linky parties each week. We will make a list and use a random number generator to choose the winners for each prize! So, it you link up to 3 Linky parties, you will have 3 opportunities to win!

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I don’t want to make that round? It’s your quilt – you can leave it out

What size do I make it? That’s up to you … you are sort-of the designer here.

Are the rounds hard? No … each round is pretty simple … squares, rectangles, half-square triangles with perhaps a surprise.

What colours do I use? That’s up to you … you can follow what one of the SAHRR leader uses or have your own colour scheme.

What if I miss a round? You can leave it out, or go back to the blog where the directions are given.

Will you cut my fabric for me? No

How often will the quilt police check on me and my progress? There are NO quilt police!! None!!

What do I do now?

Make sure that you follow each of the SAHRR leaders so that you don’t miss their posts.

Start thinking about what you might do for a centre block.

Relax … this is easy … and it’s only one round each week!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

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