Long Arm Quilting and Christmas

Like so many other long arm quilters at this time of year, I have been busy with customer quilts and have not had time to work on my own projects.

I have finished my last customer obligation this weekend. This is the last customer quilt to go on the frame. This quilt is a cheerful scrappy log cabin.

I love log cabin quilts--especially those made from scraps. I think this quilt appeals to me because it reminds me of the quilts that quilters have been making for their families for generations out of the scraps they had on hand.

This quilt has been quilted in the Baptist Fan pattern using the Circle Lord template which gives it that traditional look.

Smartie Cookies and Christmas Quilts

This post is in response to the Calico Cat's inquiry. The quilt on the chesterfield or couch in the previous post is my son's Christmas Quilt. The quilt is lap size--47 1/2" x 71 1/2" and was made as a Christmas present for him in 2002. The pattern is Cobblestones. You may know this pattern by other names as it has certainly been in the public domain for a very long time. This was a fun scrap quilt to make using up all sorts of bits of leftover Christmas fabrics. This picture was taken on Christmas morning in 2002 of my son and his new quilt.

That same year I made my daughter a Christmas quilt too. Her quilt is the Chinese Coin pattern and it too was made from the same Christmas fabric scrap bin as her brother's quilt. This is a picture of my daughter on Christmas morning in 2002 with her Christmas lap quilt.

This is the recipe for the cookies that my daughter is shown baking in the previous post. This cookie recipe is "no fail" and has become one of the favorites of our family.

Smartie Cookies

1 cup margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Smarties or M&M's for decorations

Cream butter and both sugars together. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in vanilla.

Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Press Smarties or M&M's on top of cookies using 3 or 4 per cookie. Bake in 375 degree F oven for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 4 dozen.

Christmas Baking and Decorating

It is definitely starting to feel like Christmas around here! My daughter looked after the baking of some Christmas cookies while her brother and girlfriend looked after decorating the tree.

A favorite cookie in this household has always been "Smartie cookies". The cookbook calls them Frog Eyes but we have renamed them Smartie cookies. Since the kids were small we would make these cookies decorating them to reflect the season. You can buy Smarties and M&Ms coated in colours to match the seasons--Valentine's Day, Christmas, Easter, etc.

This my daughter baking Christmas Smartie cookies.



This is my son and his girlfriend decorating the tree.

Another shot showing the "supervisor" of the operation--Dad!

The Snowman Collector

With all the snow outside, this quilt seemed appropriate to post. The quilt belongs to a customer and is called, "Snowman Collector".

I quilted this quilt with Bottom Line thread and I used Circle Lord's wave template. The combination of a fine thread and this template add just enough texture without overpowering the applique on this quilt.

I also collect snowmen and may have to make one of these for myself.

Are You a Dedicated Quilter?

According the recent Quilting in America 2006 survey sponsored by Quilter's Newsletter Magazine the dedicated quilter is:

* Female
* 59 years old
* Well educated (72% attended college)
* Affluent ($87,026 household income)
* Spend on average $2,304 per year on quilting
* Quilting for an average of 13.5 years

I am much younger than the dedicated quilter and I know that $2,304 in quilting supplies, classes, etc. does not get you very far! This survey tells me that the dedicated quilter is likely retired or close to retirement which means I have many more years of quilting ahead of me! Yahoo!

Something else that I found interesting the survey is that the average dedicated quilter owns an average of 2.6 sewing machines and 24% own more than 4 machines! If I count my retired Kenmore, my antique Singer, my Bernina that is used for piecing, and my APQS long arm, I own 4 machines!

Finally, 4.7% of all quilters are dedicated quilters and account for 88% of total quilting industry expenditures. That means that if the remaining 95.3% of the quilters out there started to spend anywhere near what the minority or dedicated quilter spends on quilting, there would be an explosion to the quilting industry!

Check the survey out yourself; it is an interesting read: http://www.quilts.com/home/news/index.php?page=announcements/index

November 2006 - A Month For the Record Books

The headline on the front page of our local paper for the last day of November read, "A November to remember--wettest month ever--snowiest November ever--wind, flood, ice...but no locusts--yet". Well that statement does sum it up. I am thrilled that the month of November is behind us.

For November 2006, the snowfall and precipitation was the heaviest since statistics started being kept in 1937.

The month started out with Vancouver receiving 14.4 mm of rain on November 3 and a further 44.6 mm on November 4. This was the month's biggest one-day total of rain.

On November 5, heavy rains swelled the Chilliwack River flooding homes and causing the evacuation of hundreds. Flows peaked at 1,040 cubic metres per second up from a normal rate of 20 cubic metres per second.

November 15 brought 100km/hr-plus winds which snapped trees and left many homes in the province without power. The Sea-to-Sky Highway closed because of fallen trees and BC Ferries cancelled sailings.

November 16 brought a boil water advisory to Vancouver and surrounding cities. The turbidity levels in the reservoirs caused by the heavy rains did not result in contamination but the advisory held due to the level of murkiness.

Abbotsford broke the one-day snowfall record with 53.1 cm falling on November 25.

November 26 brought a further 44 cm of snow which combined with the arctic front resulted in below normal temperatures and ice formed.

November 27 continued to bring snow. Schools and universities were closed and the RCMP advised against travelling the highway. The arctic air continued to sit over the Lower Mainland sending temperatures to -12 and lower with the wind chill factor.

November 29 brought yet more snow followed by sleet and finally warmer temperatures and rain.

Today we are still dealing with this white stuff. The sun is shining and the temperatures are up from the past week. However, evening brings lots of black ice resulting from the snow melting during the day and freezing after sun down. Driving is still treacherous!

These are pictures of what it looks like outside here today.

This is the view from my office.

This is the view off of our back deck. A little nicer weather than the pictures that I took last weekend from the same vantage point!

And then the front of the house.

And the view down our street.

Mom's Sweat Shop

These are my recent finishes. My son says I am running a "sweat shop" in my studio. Sometimes it might seem that way as I sit in front of my sewing machine for hours on end. Christmas is approaching and projects need to be finished.......

This is a hexagon table topper that I made with the fabrics that my Mom purchased on our trip to the U.S. some months ago.


There was enough fabric to make a second table topper. This time I made an octagon shaped topper.

These projects can be reversed if the backing is selected carefully. In the case of the first two table toppers, this is the backing that is on them. Once Christmas is over, the toppers can be changed over to a winter bird fabric to finish the winter season.


This is a table topper that I plan to give my MIL for Christmas.


This is the fabric on the back of my MIL's table topper. The flowers on this one match my MIL's carpet in her living room.

This is one more table topper that I will be giving away in a gift exchagne this Christmas.

These small wall hangings are so fun to make that you can't stop at just one! Here we have Joy, Joy, and even more Joy!