quilt

quilt 2 corner detail

Quilting Fun

I am having a great time working on a couple of new quilts. I am using the same log cabin format that I used for the first 18, but this time I changed the scale to see what would happen. My first quilts were made up of 16 squares with various borders. The newest quilts have only 9 blocks with simplified borders. i need to carve a couple of new stamps to add some printed texture, and these will need to be larger than what I have made in the past. Check out timetobeinspired.ca you say? or quilt love to see some of the earlier quilts. You can see some of the circular images that are stamped on the surface. I want to explore some new designs.

The new quilts include a variety of fabrics from my extensive (yes, that’s a polite word for it) fabric collection, some of my hand silk screened fabrics and some of my designs which I had printed at Spoonflower. It was terrific using this assortment! I decided to only do 2 quilts at a time, and not 6 like I have in the past. This way I can test out different ideas more quickly. I’ll let you know how that works out.

Here are a couple of photos of works in progress. The tops are sewn but need more stamping. I did carve a square block to stamp over the center squares of the quilt, as I thought the centers needed more emphasis. It obscures the print that I used (my own printed fabric) but there wasn’t much to see in a 1 3/4″ size square. The quilt backs are sewn and when everything is ready I’ll have them layered and quilted. After that’s done I can choose the binding fabric and finish them. Nothing like a MULTI multi step process, right?

quilt 1 quilt 1 border quilt 1 border detail quilt 2 quilt 2 corner detail center square detail

As you can see, Kush made an appearance on quilt #2. I hope it doesn’t go to her head that she might become famous.

weekly photo challenge : selfie

Kush wanted to take part in this challenge, but she needed a little help. I was happy to oblige. We were stitching near a window in the afternoon and the light was terrific.Kush the catNot being one to hog the limelight, Kush wanted me to do a selfie as well. It was late at night when I took this shot. Personally, I think she got the better end of the deal. If only I could teach her to take my photo! Work with me, Kush!selfieDon’t forget to check out some of the other fun submissions here.

It’s Finished!

My apologies for not posting for a week. I’ve been busy, started several posts but just couldn’t seem to get them finished. Last week I received a parcel from my dear friend, Louise. You know Louise – from Red Red Bobbin in Brantford, Ontario? She and her husband, Jim, own a fabulous quilt shop with a full line of quilting services and they do amazing work. Louise just finished quilting a quilt that I made for my son, Marc. (You can see the quilt in production in this post.) As soon as I carefully opened the parcel and spread out my colorful quilt, I called Louise to tell her how much I love it, because I do! Then as soon as I hung up I started grabbing fabrics to “audition” for the binding. I selected a black and white print by Nancy Crow. I ironed the fabric, ran it through my die cut machine, pressed in a fold and started sewing in on to the quilt. The process  involves sewing the binding to the front side of the quilt by machine, then folding it over the raw edge of the quilt and hand stitching it in place. I think it gives a nice finish. You can tell me what you think.

before the binding

fabric for binding

red red bobbin labelquilt on table quilt detail corner close up cat approval label block label back showing quilting corner detail back and front of quilt

I completed 2 sides of the quilt that very day but finally had to call it quits and go to bed. Over the next couple of days I completed the binding and voilà! It’s all finished. I wanted to post photos immediately, but Marc left town  for a few days and I wanted to include him in the post. Finally he arrived home – slightly exhausted.

sleeping Marc

weekly photo challenge : color

I took a couple of weeks off from the photo challenge, but how could I resist this week? Color? Really? I adore color. I crave color. I breathe color. Color is incredibly important! So, I thought I’d do the challenge. Check here for more entries. Personally I can hardly wait to start going through them. But back to my picks. On a normal challenge I can’t contain myself to one photo. I’m fighting to limit this selection, but I’m not winning the battle. I thought I’d show a few things around my house – things I enjoy every day. The first photos show some things in my studio – slippers and textiles over the studio closet doorway, my most current sewing project, fabric scraps that are too wonderful to dispose of, a bucket of pearl cotton embroidery thread and of course Kush the cat hanging out on a fabric shelf. (I didn’t follow the challenge instructions EXACTLY – I was just too excited to read it until I’d finished. Oops!)

above closet in studio sewing project fabric scraps

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