Merry Christmas!

Christmas snuck up on me like it does every year. I still managed to make a few quilted things in addition to the usual Christmas baking extravaganza!

I quilted a sweet modern vintage Chevy table runner designed by Cynthia Frenette. It looked super cute hanging from my mantel and is all wrapped up now waiting for its special delivery.

I free-motion quilted a loopy line between wavy double lines. I wanted it to look like cool winter wind. It was a lovely unexpected surprise that it looks like tire tracks in the snow! There are two designs in "Merry and Bright". I choose the table runner. If you would like to make your own, you can find the pattern here.

I've wanted to make a mini muffin tin advent calendar for a few years and finally did it! No more expensive store-bought calendars filled with cheap chocolates for my daughter!

She has really enjoyed it so far and is sad that there are only two days left to open. I had lots of fun scrapbooking the magnetic sheets. I even made a pipe cleaner wreath and a sled out of mini popsicle sticks!

I also made four Log Cabin Kitty potholders. I will share more photos of them in the next post. My Kitty Potholders have received a lot of comments on my facebook page so there will probably be a pattern to come!

A huge thank you to all my fans and followers. Your comments are truly appreciated. They keep me motivated and even give me great new ideas.

It snowed a couple weeks ago and another big dump this week added to it. There was three times as much snow as in the photo! A warm snap and lots of rain in the last two days has melted quite a bit of it but we are expecting more next week. I enjoy snow. It is magical and quiet. That is until it's a slushy muddy slippery mess...

I have been struggling with the squirrels eating all the birds' food. The little rascals chewed through my clothesline to get to the suet cage, and even managed to pry off the binder clips holding it shut before dragging the entire suet away. In honour of these cute rats with fluffy tails I baked gingerbread squirrels so I can bite their heads off!

Wishing you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS & a happy NEW YEAR!

Enjoy your Christmas cookies & quilted crafts :o)

Hollyhocks

I made this Hollyhock quilt for a mini quilt swap. My partner liked yo-yos and the colour orange so hollyhocks immediately popped to mind!

I started off making the yo-yos because I just love making yo-yos! I needed to make various sizes for the blossoms which would transition to small green buttons for the buds at the top of the ribbon stems.

The background was simple shapes pieced together to create a window. Some free-motion quilting created the shutters and bricks in the wall. I was surprised at how effective the quilting turned out.

On top of the background I added in order...
ribbon stems,
leaves,
yo-yo flowers
& buttons.
And completed it all with a patchy binding.

My partner was very happy! Now I think I need to make one for myself ;o)

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Stacked China

I made this stacked coins quilt for my friend Maya using blue & white to go with her living room decor. I think it looks like stacked China dishes. I quilted her favourite quote into the quilt...

"What we desire for ourselves,

we wish for all."

by J.S. Woodsworth

(photo by Selep Imaging)

I decided to go with linen for the long strips and binding because it set off the blue & white beautifully. I love linen. It looks good with everything! I free-motion quilted meandering lines and the words, and hand-embroidered a running stitch along the edges of the linen strips.

I found the perfect fabric for the back. It is a blue & white Asian style cotton print of birds on branches. I lost track of where I purchased it online. I used every last piece in the quilt. It wasn't quite large enough for the back after using some for the front so I added a large white border of text fabrics including a fabulous newspaper print.

Maya and her kids loved the quilt. Both of my cats thought that the quilt was extra comfortable too! Get off the quilt, Opal! I still need to embroider it...

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Forest Friends

It seems like everything I make recently has mushrooms in it! If it's not a cake decorated with meringue mushrooms or a little painting of mushrooms then it's a quilt!

I always start my projects with a sketch that I scan into the computer and print it out the actual size. This usually means taping a bunch of paper together.

Sometimes I change small things like adding an extra flower or removing the ferns. In the original drawing, the tree was slanted and the ground was curved but for ease of making a pattern I decided to make the tree & ground straight.

Then I lay my pattern on the ground and start playing with fabrics! This is where my studio becomes a hurricane! For this quilt, I used the Freezer Paper Applique technique.

I trace the reverse of my pattern pieces onto the paper-side of the freezer paper and iron them to the back of the fabrics. Starch helps a lot when pressing the fabric around to the back. The entire quilt was free-motion quilted including attaching all the appliques.

I embellished the quilt with details such as hand embroidery & stamping, and fake felt buttons so it would be baby-safe.

It's just so cute that I can't stop taking pictures!!

I must admit that I fell in love with the finished quilt like I do with practically everything I make! It was difficult for me to give it away but it was totally worth it after all the smiles it created! I think Max likes it!

I feel like this quilt needs a better title... Any thoughts?

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)