Show and Tell

It is always so wonderful to see what other people have made with my patterns.

Elizabeth from Montreal (no blog) sent me some pictures of a couple of clothespin bags that she made. Instead of quilting the bag she used outdoor fabric - such a great idea. Thanks for the pictures Elizabeth! The bags are fabulous!

Colleen (Colleen's "Quilting Journey to Oz") recently won her first blue ribbon (the category was "Machine Pieced and Quilted on a Home Machine") at a quilt show for her quilt that she made from my first quilt along. Congratulations Colleen!! You are so talented! More pictures from the quilt show can be seen here.

Another very talented quilter, Karen (Log Cabin Quilter), recently finished this little quilt from my Crow and Pomegranate appliqué  pattern. Great machine quilting Karen!

Thank-you ladies for letting me see your lovely creations!

I watermarked the centres of the pictures because people lift pictures from my blog without my permission, and I wanted to make it clear that these are not my photos.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!❤

Great Grandmother's Quilt

This summer when I went to Ontario to visit family, my aunt very generously gave me a beautiful quilt made by my great grandmother.



It is 77" x 80", with 15½" blocks set on point.




It is hand appliqued and



hand quilted.



My great grandmother Amelia Mitchell Stephens (nee Etter), 1865-1962 (this picture was on her 97th birthday). She lived in Nova Scotia.

I don't know when the quilt was made, all I do know is that it won an award. 
I also have a red and white quilt made by her - shown here.



I have it displayed with my other heirloom quilts in my bedroom (the other quilts have been featured in my previous show and tells).

Thanks again Aunt Carolyn!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Show and Tell

Yesterday I went to my parents cottage (1½ hours north of where we live), to help my mother with free motion quilting her lap quilt that she recently finished.

I started sewing it on her machine, but I have brought the quilt home to work on now. I am trying out some Mctavishing. I will show more of this quilt over the next few days. It is great to have a chance to practice more free motion quilting!

While I was at my parents I took some photos of the cross-stitched pictures that my father has made. He took up cross-stitching when he retired about 17 years ago, and he does the most precise work! (Click on the pictures to enlarge)

This one is variegated silk thread on linen

This is what he is currently working on. The Aida will be completely covered when it is finished.

I also took a picture of a crazy quilt that I made for their 35th wedding anniversary - almost 16 years ago.

It poured all day and when we came home, there was flooding everywhere.

The field in the distance is still flooded today,

but at least the sun was shining and the wind will help dry things up.

Have a great day and thanks for dropping by!! ♥

Friday Show and Tell with a Twist

This week I thought I would show some easy quilting designs that are favorites of mine.
These are really just doodling with your sewing machine. The best tip I ever heard was to practice doodling on a piece of paper before heading to the machine, this gets the design in your brain first.

One of the easiest designs to quilt is loops - I find this easier than meandering, because you can cross over lines. It is easy to get out of tight spots with loops - that is why it is my favorite. The important thing to remember is to loop one way and than in the other direction.

Loops are a great design to add to other designs.

Butterflies.

These are pretty small.

They make a great over all design with loops.
This mini quilt can be seen here.


Holly leaves, the loops become berries (I noticed that the arrows are in the reverse direction, hopefully you will figure it out).


Any size works well.


These are bigger.
This Christmas tree skirt can be seen here.


Candle wick leaves and loops.


Leaves or Hearts.


Dragonflies and loops.



Candle wick leaves make a great border design. As with the loops, they look good in opposite directions.

Stylized flower in a border.

The possibilities are endless in machine quilting!
Remember to use the correct needle for the thread being used and try slowing down. I do a better job when I wear quilting gloves (rubber gloves work in a pinch).

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!! ♥

Friday Show and Tell with a Twist

For this weeks show and tell I decided to talk about a tool that I have and love.

The Tri-Recs tool from EZ Quilt.
I originally bought this tool to make this table runner.

It is from a kit that I bought here. The pattern is "Candy Corn Cotillion" by Willow Berry Lane.



The Tri-Recs is used to make this block (I don't the name).

I have made a couple of variations of this pattern.



I have also made a couple of other quilts with the tools (I only have a picture of one of the quilts, the other is a similar variation).

Only the half triangle is used.

The blocks are made up of two halves and a reverse block is also used.


Today I tried making another pattern with the tool. I have seen similar "tumbler" or "thimble" quilts around and thought the tri tool would work.


I used 2½" strips of fabric. The tape helped me remember which lines I was using to cut.

I ended up with this.

I alternated the seams to reduce the bulk by using the little trick of unpicking a couple of stitches.


I added some applique. It will be a seat cover for a stool. There is lots of room to try out some new techniques in machine quilting.

This is my first practice piece since I bought Diane Gaudynski's book. It was lots of fun!!

Today my DH made a chocolate desert from my friend Wendy's blog, and it was delicious. He said it was easy to make. Thanks Wendy!! ♥

Have a great day!! ♥