Blogger Festival May 2012

In the beginning, I had an idea that I would like to use two sets of layer cakes to create a quilt for a very special young lady fondly known as E. She is my god daughter and was celebrating a significant birthday. Unfortunately the quilt took a little longer than I planned, so for the day of her birthday she received only the top completed. The pattern is a ten minute block by Suzanne McNeill. The blocks do go together quite quickly. If you google the ten minute block, you will find an excellent set of instructions on You tube by the designer.

Mars the cat often likes to check out my quilts and this quilt was no different. She fits so cosily in one part of the circle shaped sections. The pattern looks more complex than it was to make. It is a very neat technique.

Here we are ( E and I) wrapped up in her completed quilt a few months later. I was very happy with the border fabric that I found in my stash. The border fabric was also part of the center of each of the blocks and was also a batik fabric. One of the biggest challenges was quilting it. Each block is around 20 inches in measurement so that meant there was large areas to be quilted. I have done a fair amount of free motion quilting but I had not done designs that were specific in shape.

The quilt measures about a large double sized quilt. Here it is laying on a queen sized bed so you can see it covers the top but does not have much drop around the ends of the bed. There is another quilt under E.'s quilt.

This close up shows the detailed flowers that I created in each of the quarter blocks. My original idea was to use a variegated thread but I had significant trouble with thread breakage. I tried different needles and adjusting my tension but I could not find a way to create the free motion flowers so I went back to using invisible thread. The machine and I then started to get along. I am quite pleased with my first attempt at a stylized free motion design. I did not stencil the design in- I just drew it with the machine needle and thread so the individual flowers are not exactly the same..

Link to blog festival I have enjoyed participating in Amy's Blogging Festival in the past. If you click on the gadget on the right hand top of the page it will link you with the rest of the festival. I hope that you will get a chance to visit the many quilts in this virtual show. There are always spectacular quilts to be seen and enjoyed. I know that I come away feeling inspired by the many talented quilters from around the globe. Thanks for dropping by.. Warmest regards from Western Canada, Anna

It all started when...

The weather has turned mild here in Alberta(unlike some of my friends living in Manitoba and Ontario where the mercury has dropped quite low).
Still, we have mounds of snow that has needed to be dealt with, in one way or another- We had our roof shoveled off on Saturday as it was causing some problems for us in the house. Hopefully it will be better now that the roof is cleared but it is a challenge to get rid of the ice build up.
Bruce found some lovely pink and white carnations to grace the table. Nothing like flowers to add color and life to the house.


On Saturday, I decided to get going on some quilt projects - I pulled out this Tesselating Pinwheels and counted out the block pieces that were already cut. I discovered that I had not cut enough of the black background to make a bedside quilt(a large twin) so I went upstairs to dig around for the black fabric. I was pleased to find another piece of the background. A little while later I had enough cut to make the blocks required.


Here are a few of the blocks made up - the colors are much richer than the photos show- I can't seem to get the light quite right for taking inside photos.You can also see the bag of block pieces waiting to be put together.


While I was upstairs looking for black, I pulled out some fabric to make some new baby clover leaf shaped wraps.

I cut three - all will have the green minkee inside them and different outside fabrics- the sock monkey, the Yellow Golden books and the Raggedy Anne and Andy fabric. I will put batting between the layers and quilt them on the machine and then bind them with bias made binding from the matching cotton fabrics.

Some friends and family members are having babies this spring so I need to get the baby quilts made soon.



My intentions were good but then I got distracted by some blog reading here: Naomi of Nome's bragalong blog posted this You tube link of Suzanne McNeill making this very cool block. ( I learned something new today- I figured out how to embed a You tube piece in my blog_ Wahoo!) Do visit Naomi's blog to check out her beautiful version of Suzanne's 10 minute block


After viewing the tutorial - I had to try it- so after a few tries of getting everything to be in the right direction( sometimes the seam ripper is one's best friend) I made these blocks. They are just test blocks out of charm squares. I still need to press them and I think I will fold them back like Suzanne suggests and make the cathedral window edges.They really are quite fast if you get them oriented correctly.Suzanne had some really nice ideas on the You tube tutorial.
I love the look of curved piecing- Perhaps this is the pattern for my sunflowers with dark black centers and sunflower fabrics.. Hmmmmm...


It was interesting to see the difference between the blocks that were all one color and the printed ones.

There are so many things to consider when you are choosing a quilt pattern.. Do you make your own? Use a commercial one and follow it exactly? Start with a pattern and change it to fit your ideas ? Do you add you own borders?


I sent off the parcels from my last giveaway and got word that one has already arrived. It is always nice to know that the post had safely delivered them to the new owners.

There are some interesting giveaways going on in blogland just now. Do go and check them out if you have the time:
Lila of Lila Tueller Designs is having a very nice giveaway- just because- She is giving away a layer cake and a fat quarter bundle of Riley Blake designs. She does beautiful fabrics and patterns - do go and visit her.
Linda from Stray Stitches is celebrating 400 followers. She is sharing some lovely fabrics - She is one generous lady and I know you will enjoy reading her posts.
There is also a blog hop going on that is being hosted by Moda bake shop and Stash books. Stash books is publishing a book with some Moda bake shop patterns in it. Each of the posts on the blog hop has a nice recipe to share. There is a chance to win a book and the grand prize of some great Moda fabrics. You need to enter all the designer's posts in order to be eligible for the grand prize.
If you have not heard of Moda Bake shop, you may enjoy checking out their blog to find some new patterns as well as gathering some great recipes.

January has been a difficult month for some of my blogging friends. My hope is that their loads are lessened. My thoughts are with those who are struggling with the floods in Australia ,and others, who are dealing with family illness. May the new month bring brighter days and new beginnings.

Until next time,
Be well - Warmest regards,
Anna