Dryer Diamond Strings

This is my last finish for this weekend.

These were my dryer sheet string blocks.

I don't like the border on this one. The border in itself is fine, it just doesn't work on this quilt. However, it is now a finished flimsy ready for quilting, and I am sure it will find a home where it will be loved just the same. :) Not every idea in my head turns out like I think it will!

Ladybug Building Blocks Finished

This is my second finish for this weekend. I have had the luxury of spending my time this weekend working on my own projects. I have been "making hay while the sun shines", making full use of the opportunity.
This quilt is now quilted (using my new Swirls template) and bound.

Detail of the quilting.

I have been asked what I did to alter my quilt from Debbie Mumm's pattern.

Debbie Mumm's quilt is crib size, finishing at 46" x 58". That size was a little too small for my needs so I enlarged the pattern to 51" x 75".

This is the layout from Debbie Mumm's pattern.

If you compare this diagram with the photo of my quilt you will see that I have added.......

....one extra row of blocks and....

one extra strip down the side.

My handwritten notes indicate that you need to cut the following numbers of strips of the different fabrics:

6 - 3 1/2" strips of Fabric A (blue)

5 - 3 1/2" strips of Fabric B (pink)

4 - 3 1/2" strips of Fabric C (green)

5 - 3 1/2" strips of Fabric D (yellow)

2 - 6 1/2" strips of Fabric E (orange)

3 - 3 1/2" strips of Fabric E (orange)

First border: 1 1/2" strips (green)

Outer border: 6 1/2" strips (print)

Binding: 7 - 2 1/2" strips (pink)

This pattern works up fast and will definitely be one that I do again.

Color Catcher Strings

This is a flimsy that I put together today.

The blocks are my Color Catcher foundation pieced string blocks. After piecing my strings onto the used Color Catchers, I trimmed the blocks to 4" x 9 1/2" I then pieced 3 1/4" x 9 1/2" strips of black fabric to either side of the strips to make blocks that were 9 1/2" square. The top was finished off with a 4" plain black border.

The top finished at 52 1/2" x 78 1/2".

The light area in the center of the quilt is the sunlight showing through. Today was such a pleasant day weather wise.

I am now working on putting together my used dryer sheet string blocks. I hope to have that flimsy finished this weekend as well.

New Swirls Template

Last week I received my newest Circle Lord Template, "Swirls" for my long arm.

This is a customer quilt that I just finished using that template. Isn't a wonderful design!

This quilt does not have a quilt bat. Rather, the customer brought me a wool blanket (that had been washed several times) to use as batting. Even though the blanket has virtually no loft, the design of the quilting still shows.

I can see lots of quilts using this template in my future!

A Week for Gifts

Last week was a week for gifts.

I received these cute potholders from Phyllis as a thank you for quilting the following quilt for my quilt guild's We Care Committee. The quilt was far too large for the ladies to manage to quilt easily on their domestic machines. I told them that I wouldn't mind doing the quilting for them. I returned the quilt to Phyllis (one of the We Care Committee coordinators) on Wednesday night at our guild meting. The piecer has the quilt back to put the binding on. Once the quilt is bound and labelled it will be donated to a new hospice starting up in our community.

I love anything with snowmen on it. I collect snowmen. I love snowmen! I thought to myself, what a wonderful gift. I asked Phyllis, how she knew her gift would be so perfect and she whispered to me, "I read your blog!". What a perfect lead into my presentation on blogging that night!



This is the quilt that will be donated to our local hospice.

I also received a package in the mail from Carol of Giraffe Dreams. Thank you Carol for the wonderful fabric and lovely cards depicting scenes of your community!

7 Things Meme

I have been tagged by Joyce at J's Quilting Blog to tell you 7 things about myself you don't already know. Here goes:

1. I don't hand quilt--ever! I can't get the precision and exactness of stitch length and stitch quality like I can when I quilt by machine. I gave up trying to hand quilt a very long time ago!

2. I love to collect things: chickens, thimbles, and pins from quilt shows that I have been to.

3. I quilt every day--or do something quilt related. I count reading quilt books and magazines as doing something quilt related as this is one source of inspiration. In the last year and a half I have also counted reading blogs as quilt related. The number of quilts and quilting projects started since I have started blogging is testament that this is definitely a source of inspiration for my work.

4. I love to travel with my quilting friends whether it be a small number in a car headed to a shop hop or a large number in a bus headed to a quilt show.

5. I love the old classic TV shows like Beverly Hillbillies, I Love Lucy, Hogan's Heroes, etc.

6. I don't usually follow a commercial pattern 100%. I usually find myself making modifications to either change the size, the border, etc.

7. I tend to keep more than I throw out. That is why I am currently undertaking a process to de clutter, reduce stuff, and only keep the essentials (at least essential according to my definition of essential. *LOL*)

There you have it--7 thing that you didn't know about me. I am not going to tag specific people. If you enjoyed reading along and would like to play, consider yourself tagged!

Blogging Presentation Made to Quilt Guild - Part II

The following is a continuation of my previous post. This is the second half of my presentation to my quilt guild on the subject of Blogs and Blogging.



WHY

Quilting has a very social component to it. Quilting is about expressing creativity but it is also something that brings people together. We have quilt guilds where we meet together in person like we are doing here tonight. There have been virtual quilt guilds on the Internet for years. My blog ring is like a virtual quilt guild.

I have a group of friends who share my interest in quilting that I can use as a resource at any time of the day or night. We share ideas, opinions, patters, etc. through our blogs, messages, and e-mails.

The blog ring that I belong to is called, Stash Quilts, and currently has 41 members from all parts of the world.

The following projects are just some of the things that I have been working on where inspiration came from my fellow bloggers.

My Halloween table topper was inspired by Doodlebug Gail of Quite Quilted.

My Gratitude Quilt was inspired by Jeanne of Spiral and the pattern was developed by and provide to us by Judy L of Sunshine Quilts as the November Hour a Day Project.

These are my string blocks pieced on used dryer sheets. I have also pieced string blocks using muslin as a foundation. Inspiration for these projects goes to many bloggers including Mary who is spearheading the HeartStrings Quilt Project/ and Patti of Quilting is my Passion.

Pam of My Creative Mind found this Building Blocks quilt pattern on Debbie Mumm's site and shared it with us.
When I went to the Lynden Fair last summer and I saw a quilt that I wanted to make, it was Kim of a Peach in Stitches assisted with information on the pattern, known as BQ.

Lucy of Quilting With the Past was responsible for me making my double four patch quilt.

WHEN

The most dedicated bloggers post on a daily basis and regularly circle the "ring" to leave comments on the blogs of others. We have an understanding in our ring that we will commit to making at least one quilt-related post each month. Some bloggers work full time outside of the home like I do and do most of their posting and blog reading on the weekends.

WHERE

Blogger is a free program that allows you to create and maintain a blog in three easy steps:

1. Create an account.

2. Name your blog.

3. Choose a template.

My blog was created using blogger. There are other programs out there, but this one was simple to use and serves my purpose just fine.

Although it helps if you can read or understand HTML code, it is not a requirement of having a blog. If you understand HTML it is a little easier to add things to the side bar of your blog like a Weather Pixie, a clock, etc.

Some things to keep in mind:

If you plan on keeping your blog private, you will have to provide the address of your blog to those people who you want to read your blog. Goggling or searching the Internet will not produce a link to your blog.

If you have elected to make your blog public, remember to be careful what information you post. Consider anything posted to the Internet or your blog equivalent to posting on a public bulletin board. Consider carefully if you want your first and last name out there, the name of the city you live in, etc.

CONCLUSION

My blogging experience has opened up many new friendships. There is a small group of us who have been challenged by Linda J to make a snowman redwork/bluework/greenwork BOM snowman project this year.

I have made friendships with quilters over the past year and half without meeting them in person. I live for the day that we can get the opportunity to meet in person!

I have made friendships with quilters over the past year and a half without meeting in person. However, I live for the day that we can visit in person over a real cup of coffee, not just through a keyboard and the Internet!

Blogging Presentation Made to Quilt Guild - Part I

Last Wednesday, on May 16, I made a presentation to the members of my quilt guild on blogs and blogging.

The Program Committee thanked me for my presentation and awarded me with a gift certificate to my favorite quilt shop, Hamels.

Many of you have written and asked me to update you with how the presentation went. From my perspective, it went very well. The ladies were a perfect audience, listening intently and engaging themselves in the presentation by asking some very good questions. I can say that I did enjoy myself.

Ideally we would have had an Internet connection, computer, and projector so that I could surf with the ladies and show them all of your blog sites. However, the venue that we meet in for our guild meetings is not that technologically advanced, so we had to move to plan, B. I took along a basket of quilts, patterns, and ideas that linked to my presentation. Many of the items I showed were inspired by my blogging friends. I felt that even if the members of the audience were not interested in blogging itself, they would have something to enjoy in the items I brought along to show.

I decided to use the 5-Ws to help me cover my topic: the who, what, where, when, and why. I tell my kids to make sure and cover the 5-Ws when they ask me about going somewhere to make sure they don't leave anything out so I thought the logic would help guide me in putting together my presentation.

The following was put together from my speaking notes so that you get a flavour of what I covered in my presentation.

WHAT

What is blogging all about, and what is a blog anyway?

In order to answer these questions, I am going to tell you about how I started quilting and eventually started blogging.

I was introduced to quilting by a co-worker in 1997.

A co-worker was talking about getting together with some friends to discuss their next quilting project. They were getting together for tea on a Sunday afternoon and they were all bringing along their patterns to decide what project they would be working on during their planned weekend quilting retreat before Christmas. I was invited to come along.

I had started a Jacob's ladder quilt prior to this meeting and had purchased a rotary cuter, ruler, and mat. I was watching quilting shows on the PBS stations regularly and had some idea of how to start quilting but that was all. I was truly a beginner.

In November 1997, the 5 of us got together to quilt for the weekend--Colette (my co-worker), Teresa (the most experienced of us all and the unofficial teacher and leader), Veryan, Cindi, and I (the most inexperienced of everyone). We had decided to work on log cabin quilts. I was going to do a simple two colour version in a small manageable size--a wall hanging--while the more experienced of the group were working on a more difficult bed size tulip version.

This is the finished quilt that was completed to the flimsy stage that weekend and quilted many years later.

Colette and I worked together until the fall of 1999. At that time the office we were working in closed and every one's employment was terminated. We kept in touch as we moved through our careers and as Colette moved from Alert Bay to Seattle, and eventually Arizona.

In December 2005, I received a Christmas card from Collete. As you can see the card was fabulous--a cactus in the desert with a dusting of snow.

Inside the card was a note. The note read, "I'm not doing a letter this year--but I'm going to post on the blog--so after December 22nd--go have a look at: www.lapagedecolette.blogspot.com and then post your comments if you want."

I had no idea what a blogspot was. I was disappointed that Colette had not written a letter, but instead was directing me to a web page somewhere on the Internet. That would mean turning on the computer and correctly typing this address. I was busy and not sitting in front of the computer so I set the card aside. Between Christmas and New Year's that year, after things had settled down again, I remembered the note in the card and I got curious. I turned on the computer and after trying several times to get the correct web page I got Colette's blog. (Colette's penmanship has not improved over the years and it took me a bit to realize the French connection! *LOL*) This was cool! There was information all about what Colette had been doing, pictures of where she had been and the things she had seen. I left a comment and waited for a reply.

I was curious who else was out there blogging and so I googled the words, blog and quilt. I got some hits and realized that there were quilters out there doing this blogging as well. After some encouragement from Colette, I started my own blog on January 2, 2006.

I originally intended for my blog page to be a way for friends and family to read about what I had been doing. I soon found out that my friends and family were not motivated to leave me comments and weren't as interested in this blogging thing as I was so I reached out to other quilters by applying for membership in a blog ring. After connecting with other quilting bloggers, I was hooked!

So, what is a blog?

A blog is a cross between a journal and a web page.

A blog is less formal than a web page.

A blog is a very user friendly method of sharing specific subject material with the world.

A blog can be private or very public.

A blog is interactive and feedback can be immediate.

A blog is a means of communication that is not dependent on the time of day or day of the week for a response. Because blogs are on the Internet and the Internet is always open - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week--you can connect with someone somewhere in the world at any time of day or night.

WHO

You can see that there is one person responsible for both my addictions--quilting and blogging and that is Colette!

Who blogs? Everyone!

If you can think of a subject there is probably a person who is blogging about it somewhere in the world.

Art Quilters blog.

Authors blog.

Well known quilters like Pat Sloan and Debbie Mumm have their own blogs.

Long Arm Quilters blog.

Everyday quilters blog.

................ to be continued.

Guild Night - May 16

I have been asked to do a presentation at our guild meeting on Wednesday night on blogging. Wish me luck!

Mother's Day and a Fabulous Weekend

My long weekend has come to an end. :(

I had last Friday and today off from work which gave me a 4-day weekend. It has been wonderful--like a mini vacation!

Sunday was Mother's Day and I had a fabulous day. Both my son and daughter helped out by doing some of the household chores. I spent the afternoon quilting. My son, daughter, and husband looked after cooking supper. We had my parents over for supper and we had a nice evening visiting with them.

As you can see by the cards below, both my kids have a sense of humor.

From my daughter:


I love the mug that my daughter gave me.

From my son and his girlfriend:

I love ladybugs and this sign and ladybug ornament from my son and his girlfriend are perfect!

My husband got me an I-Pod so that I can listen to quilting pod casts. This is something I have wanted for a very long time. I guess he was listening to me!

I believe I was spoiled!

I had quite a few finishes this weekend as far as quilting goes.

I finished the binding on my Parrot Building Blocks quilt. This was a pattern that Pam found on-line that was designed by Debbie Mumm. If you would like to make your own quilt, the pattern can be found here: http://www.debbiemumm.com/Projects/Quilting/2007/03/

My version is larger than Debbie's and finishes at 52" x 75".

I had purchased some frog fabric and coordinates some time ago. I decided that Warm Wishes was the perfect pattern to use up the fabric. Warm Wishes was a pattern featured in Quiltmaker Magazine in the November / December 2003 (No. 94) issue. The pattern can also be found on line at: www.quiltmaker.com/patterns/patt4a.htm.

This is a closeup of the frogs.

Because the first Building Blocks quilt went together so quickly, I had time to make another one with some lady bug fabric on the border.

This is a closeup of the ladybugs.

Back to work and reality tomorrow!

Quilt BC - Kamloops - May 5, 2007

On May 5, 2007 our Quilt Guild chartered a bus to take us to Quilt BC in Kamloops. The National Juried Show was disappointing. I enjoyed the quilts in the smaller shows held elsewhere in town and the Trend-Tex Challenge more than the Juried show. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the quilts in the Juried show show I can't show you those quilts. I purchased the catalogue of quilts that were exhibited so that I would have pictures of the quilts but I have nothing to show you here.

There was a large merchants mall where I managed to find some items to bring home with me. :)

The fabric on the left was part of a kit to make place mats. The middle fabrics were bright and cheerful--simply irresistible. The fabrics on the right are fruits and vegetables. I was inspired by a BQ quilt in the Fall/Winter 2006 issue of Quilt Sampler. The quilt was featured in a shop in Tuscon, Arizona called The Quilter's Market. I have scanned the photo just in case you don't have access to the magazine. The photo is a little grainy but hopefully you can see the BQ quilt on the table done in vegetable and black and white fabrics.

I also found a cute crate of black and white fabrics and some Laurel Burch cat fabric that I couldn't leave behind.

I also picked up a show pin and CQA thimble for my collection.

Applique Quilt Show - Quilts by Marigold Appliquers

The Marigold Appliquers is the Kamloops Chapter of the Applique Society. The Applique Quilt Show was another of the small quilts shows held in Kamloops last weekend during Quilt BC. The Applique Quilt Show was held in this beautiful historic building: St. Andrew's on the Square.


This collection of fabric postcards was fabulous.

This is a close up of my favorite postcard. It would seem that the female fisherman has caught the "big one" in this case!

The quilting on this quilt was fabulous!

This quilt had many mini quilts on its border. Each one was a miniature piece of art in its own right.

I loved this classic blue and yellow tulip quilt.

My favorite quilt was this teddy bear quilt.

This quilt was an original design.

Being from the Prairies, I can appreciate this landscape quilt.

There are never too many chicken quilts!

I loved the background behind this sunflower.