Inspired by Nature Blog Hop: My Day

November 16, 2020November 17, 2020 / quiltinggail / 43 Comments

I received “Ohana” fabric collection to use for this blog hop. Aren’t the fabrics awesome?

They made me think of flowers … Well, there are pretty flowers in some of the fabrics. H I thought of the Accuquilt die that I have, “Cleopatra’s Fan.” To me, this die never made me think of a fan, but it did make me think of flowers …

SEW … off to EQ and I played around with the design and the fabrics and came up with this …

Below is some of the pieces on the Accuquilt die. I wasn’t able to lay all of the fabric out at once because I wanted specific fabrics in specific places. So each fabric was cut and placed into the sections where they were destined to go.

I did need to have reverse pieces of each fabric for this block. However, working with Island Batik fabrics, it is seldom that I can decipher the wrong side from the right side. That made it super easy! I just needed 8 pieces of each cut and I didn’t have to worry about right or wrong sides! Island Batik fabrics are pretty cool that way!

Here are all of the blocks on the design board before being sewn together and borders added.

Here’s a close up of the quilting from the front. I outlined all the shapes and quilted little 3 or 4 petal flowers in the grey neutral portions. Wavy leaves formed the border.

And from the back showing more of the border’s wavy leaves.

Once the borders were added and the quilt quilted, … I only had 2 fabrics that I had not used in the quilt … and neither of them was good as a binding. A scrappy binding just didn’t feel right for this quilt. I was given “Marble-Purple-BE” as a coordinating fabric and it is perfect for the binding. Just a hint of the dark purple frames the quilt.

Stats:

54″ x 54″
Quilted with Aurifil #2600, light grey.
Binding attached with Aurifil #2581, dark purple.
Hobbs 80/20 batting
Pieced and Quilted on my Janome Continental M7 sewing machine.

Be sure to visit my Blog Hop Partner, Mania and see the quilt she made with the same fabric collection! Ohana!

Ohana should be arriving in stores soon!

Opportunity to Win

There are 3 opportunities to win some fabric! One from me and 2 from Island Batik.

From Me:

You could win scraps from 5″ x 10″ to 12″ squares of 12 Ohana fabrics. If you live in Canada, in the comment section, tell me how nature inspires (or could inspire) your quilting.

From Island Batik:

Click on the link below to have an opportunity to win Fat Quarter bundles of wonderful fabric: either Sweet Hearts or Love and Kisses

Click HERE

Disclaimer: All of the fabric and supplies (other than my sewing machine and iron) were given to me by Island Batik and the industry partners! Thank you!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!
Gail

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The Latest about Masks

November 15, 2020November 17, 2020 / quiltinggail / 27 Comments

Did any of you see this article from CBC Marketplace about masks? Click HERE.

After reading this article, I asked Island Batik what the thread count is for their fabric. Here’s what Elizabeth Phillips (Marketing and Graphic Design) said, “Our greige goods are the highest quality we can purchase. The thread counts are stated a little differently when buying the prepared for dyeing cotton but It’s a little higher than 600.”

So there you have it! If you’ve been making masks with Island Batik fabrics … you’ve been doing the best you can.

And yes, I’ve made masks with Island Batik fabric … here’s a picture of my purse with the matching masks!

Design Wall

Piecing:

Scrappy 4 patches: The setting triangles are added as well as the first border. I need to dig out some fabric and audition it for the 2nd border. This needs to be bigger. At the moment, it’s 38″ x 44″ … if I add a 4″ border, that will make it 46″ x 52″. I’ll be happier with that size!

Quilting:

About the secrets … Secret #1 & #2 are done … #3 is almost finished. Then I’ll add the hanging sleeves (with a blind hem and invisible thread) to #2 and #3.

Stash Report

No finished projects, no shopping …

Fabric Used this week 0 yards
Fabric Used this year: 279.5 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 50.5 yards (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used 229.0 yards
Husband’s purchases: 11.5 yards (which are added into my total amount of Fabric added this year).

Stitchin’ Time

I’m aiming for at least 30 minutes a day.

January – Sept: 290 / 304
30 min days/ Nov: 15 / 15
Total days in 2020: 305 / 318
Percentage = 95%

For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces

TO DO

I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”

Well, I got the priority quilting done: IB November will be showcased on Tuesday as part of Island Batik’s “Inspired by Nature” Blog Hop. I was privileged to work with a fantastic fabric collection! Come back on Tuesday to see the quilt!

Last week’s list:

IB November: Quilt and Bind √ done
Work on Secret projects: Finish #3 not done
Work on UFO (Scrappy 4 patches) (to flimsy stage) not done
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √ done

This week’s list:

Secret project #3 : finish quilting, bind and photos
Work on UFO (Scrappy 4 patches) (to flimsy stage)
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √

No UFOs finished. One Start in 2020 finished.

I did add the remaining UFOs to my list … just so that you KNOW I have more! (grin)

Inspired by Nature Blog Hop

Click HERE to see this week’s awesome Ambassador quilts!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!
Gail

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Linking to:

Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
Oh Scrap @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework
15 minutes to Stitch @ Life in Pieces
Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
To-Do Tuesday @ Home Sewn By Us
Colour Inspiration Tuesday @ Clever Chameleon Quilting

Inspired by Nature Blog Hop: Week 2

November 15, 2020 / quiltinggail / 1 Comment

Here is this week’s line up:

November 16:

Joanne Hart, Unicornharts
Maryellen McAuliffe, Mary Mack Made Mine
Jennifer Thomas, Curlicue Creations

November 17:

Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail YOU’RE HERE
Mania Hatziioannidi, Mania for Quilts

November 18:

Sharon Riley, Sew Riley Designs
Sandra Walker, mmm! quilts

November 19:

Carol Moellers, Carol Moellers Designs
Emily Leachman, The Darling Dogwood

Be sure to Click on the link below to have an opportunity to win some wonderful fabric: either Sweet Hearts or Love and Kisses.

a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!
Gail

Linky Parties

November 12, 2020November 14, 2020 / quiltinggail / 18 Comments

Some of my followers ask why I link my blog post to other bloggers linky parties. Here’s why:

When I first discovered the wonderful Internet world of quilting, I was totally amazed, but found I was often just visiting the same sites. It didn’t help that I had no idea about Google or search engines or Pinterest or anything. And this was YEARS before I started my blog!

Then one day, I happened upon a blog where there was a Linky Party each week. I believe it was Judy Laquidara of Patchwork Times and her Linky Party was about what’s on your design wall. I found it was an amazing source and changed every week. Through the Linky Party, I discovered many blogs that I still follow today.

Also, during that time, she had a free quilt pattern. The challenge was to use a stripe fabric and scraps. I have no idea when Judy did this, but I finished it in 2009. This was the result:

And, I played with the stripes and made big big blocks for the back. That was fun!

Continue reading →

Remembrance Day

November 11, 2020 / quiltinggail / 6 Comments

On this Remembrance Day, I think of poppies. How they originally symbolized the end of WW1 and now include the remembering of the many fallen soldiers of various wars.

I made this quilt for a Quilt of Valour using the Island Batik fabric collection “Freedom.” It is my own design.

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
  The torch; be yours to hold it high.
  If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
      In Flanders fields.

Written by John McCrae, Guelph, Ontario.

Busy week

November 9, 2020November 14, 2020 / quiltinggail / 18 Comments

Yes, I’ve had a busy week. Since Covid started, my calendar has been pretty blank. A couple of weekly Zoom things, daily walks and not much else, you tend to get use to it! Then BAM … all of a sudden, I had 2 dentist appointments (cleaning and fillings), a blood work appointment, a doctor’s appointment, a short guild Zoom meeting, a family Zoom quilting day, as well as the usual 3 weekly Zooms … Oh me, oh my … I felt almost overwhelmed. And to think, I used to have all those appointments, work full time and still managed to get a lot of quilting done! Sigh … Enough of my week … back to what’s important to me: Quilting!