All Set

I am all ready for the quilt show demos (I hope!).

I am going to my parents tonight, Thursday we are getting all the quilts ready and late Friday we set up for the quilt show, all ready for the big day on Saturday!

Tropical flowers seem to enjoy the heat wave.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Nature

I have been getting ready for my demos for the quilt show on Saturday (Victoria Beach, Manitoba, July 23rd 2011), so I can't show you what I have been working on until after that.

We have had a visitor in our yard - digging holes!

A Thirteen-Lined ground squirrel! We think it is a she too!! She is beautiful and not very scared of us.

We have been having hot (mid 30's°C, mid 90's°F), dry weather. The grass is dying but the gardens are growing well (with the help of watering) -


Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

New Thread

I was given a spool of Superior Threads The Bottom Line to try out.

It is a 60 wt polyester thread.

I made a little table topper to try the new thread out. It is 16" square, with wool batting.

I tried out some applique (I was given a spool of purple thread which is not my favorite colour, and I don't have too much purple fabric in my stash - all this fabric is from my inherited stash), also some quilting in the ditch with a walking foot and free motion quilting.

I used a #70 Microtex needle. I tried using the Bottom Line thread in the bobbin - it worked fine for the applique, but I had to switch to Aurifil cotton thread for the free motion quilting because the threads kept breaking (my machine seems to struggle with polyester thread in the top and bottom, so I wasn't surprised).

Overall I liked the thread. I still prefer Invisafil for applique because it is a 100wt thread and is a bit less noticeable (it didn't help that I used plain fabric). The thread worked well for free motion quilting, and the 1,420 yards on the spool would go a long way, plus it comes in a beautiful range of colours.

Yesterday I had a couple of comments about why I wouldn't quilt so many lines of the Winding Ways blocks again -

it was just because there ended up being too many quilting lines in the center of the blocks. It was very easy to do because the blocks make nice large circles which were very easy to follow with the walking foot.

We have been bike riding in the country again,


and ended up in this large dried up ditch -

my son found a little fish,

in the only puddle,

better luck than fishing in the lake last week!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Some Finishes

I finished the Winding Ways table topper.

It is 24" square. I used cotton batting and Aurifil #50 thread top and bottom. Quilted with a walking foot on my domestic sewing machine. I did concentric circles the width of the walking foot to emphasis the circles the blocks made, but I wouldn't do so many again. Plus if the quilt was much larger it would be too hard to quilt that way with a walking foot.
I had a half meter of each fabric and cut them with the GO!, if I would have had another half meter of the dark fabric I would have been able to have a little border and the same fabric for the binding. The two half meters was enough to make 10 blocks with the GO!.

The size is perfect as a table topper.

I also finished the binding on the Rob Peter to Pay Paul table runner.


Since this is the first "theme" fabric I have ever purchase I thought I would photograph it with some old sewing things

It is 28" x 14", with cotton batting and Aurifil #50 top and bottom. It is free motion quilted on my DSM. I had a half meter of each fabric and was able to make 8 blocks with the GO! (more waste on these blocks).
I will use it as a pad under my sewing machine (which sits on my Grandmother's old treadle sewing machine cabinet - no treadle sewing machine anymore - she had traded it in when she bought a new one).

I am really pleased with the two new GO! dies and I have a few plans for them.

I was so pleased to receive this photo from Lucy -

She made her first piece of Romanian Point Lace from my tutorial. It is so beautiful, and I was thrilled that she was able to follow the instructions. Now she is planning on making the same large doily that I made - can't wait to see her progress.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Getting Ready for a Quilt Show

I am so excited to be participating in my first quilt show!

This is my Mother's quilt group and they kindly asked me to participate. I will also be doing some demos (two machine quilting - beginner and fancy, and machine applique).


Here is my pile of quilts, it was hard to limit myself. I am hoping to sell a few of them too.

Roses in my garden,

this "Morden Sunrise" has the most beautiful smell and is made for our harsh climate.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Machine Quilting

I have been machine quilting the samples I made with my new Go! dies.

The Winding Ways one,

I chose to quilt it in concentric circles with a walking foot because I wanted to emphasis the circular pattern that the blocks create.

The Rob Peter to Pay Paul one,

I quilted feather variations on this one.

I also quilted a baby quilt,

meander quilting in the center and a swirl design for the outer border. This quilt is made from the fabric I was sent by Marcus Fabrics.
The Tumblers were cut using the GO! cutter and my Mom pieced it. She was pleased with how easy the tumblers went together. We will be able to make 3 baby quilts (she has already finished one) with this fabric and we will donate them to the children's hospital.

They all just need the binding.

This is this month's Henrietta Whiskers block.

We have had lots of heat and my vegetable garden is growing well,

we just need some rain - I have never seen such deep cracks.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Back from Camping

We are back from 3 wonderful days of camping at Hecla Island.

We had great weather.

Skipped lots of rocks.

Did some fishing (well casting really since no fish were caught).

Lots of biking on the amazing trails throughout the park.

Saw some wild animals (there is a deer running away in there somewhere),

lots of geese with babies,

and a duck and her babies.

Did lots of reading, playing games, eating and laying around too!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Samples

I tried out my new GO! dies this weekend and made a few samples.

This is Winding Ways. I have plans to make a bed quilt with Bali fabrics and this die. I just have to figure out how to minimize the bulky seams. All the pieces of the block went together so well, it was an easy block to make. They are 8" blocks.

This one is Rob Peter to Pay Paul. Another easy block to make once I figured out the best way for me to make it. I have seen different methods online, but I found that 3 pins (one in the middle and at both ends) worked the best for me. The blocks are 7".
I think I am really going to enjoy this die as there are so many possibilities for it.

Here is one.
I have also seen it with different fabrics in the center using a layer cake and all the same fabric for the melons (shown here).
Plus another one where all the melons are made from scraps and the centers are the same fabric (shown here).
I have even seen one with a crazy quilted center.
I just need more hours in the day!

I finished this months Hop to It block.

Hard to see, but this weekend there were two partridges and about a dozen babies walking through the yard - so cute!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥