March 27, 2014

Pencil Mug Rug

This was just a little gift for Claire's teacher at the end of June. Her favourite colour is yellow and I had the perfect fabrics.




I was very happy with the bit of pink velveteen I used for the eraser. I paper-pieced the pencil and had lots of fun free-motion quilting her name!




I hand-stamped a little note from Claire on the back. I heard through the grapevine that she is still enjoying it on her desk at her new school.



I had so much fun making this little mug rug that I think it will be the year-end gift for the teacher every year!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

March 23, 2014

Colourbrick Quilt

As you may have noticed I haven't been blogging lately but it seems that most of you now realize that I blog in spurts only when I'm feeling inspired to write which isn't very often. It's been a while and so I have many creations to share with you over the next few posts.



I will start with my Colourbrick quilt I finished in May. I based it on Stitched in Color's Colorbrick Quilt-Along. I made my brick wall larger, horizontal instead of vertical, and made the mortar sashing a bit wider. The finished size after washing & drying is 70 x 85".




I have been enjoying it all Winter because I used the most luxurious Hobb's Heirloom wool batting and it is OH SO WARM! My cat Percy agreed and much cat fur was quilted into the threads! It was the first time using wool batting and it was very nice for free-motion quilting. Free-motion scallops around each brick... what was I thinking?!





I never pre-wash my fabric so it shrunk a bit more than usual but I like the extra crinkly effect. The quilt feels nice and light even with the cozy flannel I chose for the backing.




I wanted this quilt to be really bright & cheery which was a challenge for me since I'm used to creating with neutrals and dusty colours. I found some fabrics I adore including some large teacup and bird prints, ABC Cookery, and Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley and Flea Market Fancy. Brighter, bolder, more modern fabrics have been creeping into my stash since joining the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild.




I pieced a single row of bricks into the backing which included a hand-stamped label. And of course I took the opportunity to add a couple more teacups ;o)



Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)