Quilt Club

I have joined many sewing/quilting groups over the years.  Some have been formal organizations and some have been loose gatherings of like minded people.

I currently belong to 3 quilt groups and sew (almost) regularly with a group of friends.  Each of these groups serve a different purpose in my sewing/quilting life.

One group I have wanted to join is one where we challenge each other and encourage each other in our craft.  I have't found a group yet, but I am still hoping I'll find a few like minded people soon.

One group or club that I did start this year at WonderFil Threaducation Centre was a quilt group.   We meet the 4th Wednesday evening of the month and look at a different quilting shapes and it's many variations.  So far, we've looked at Squggles and Loops.  We have spent time doodling and creating many, many variations.  

I have created a Quilt Club Binder that the participants got on the first night.  I've included some of my doodles and give lots of space for club members to add their own designs.   It's amazing what we can do with paper and pen or needle and thread.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 23 at the WonderFil Threaducation Centre.

Thought I'd share some pictures of my doodling on the white board during our last club meeting.

In our Loops meeting, we started with simple loops and looked at variations.

We filled blocks

I've lots of ideas....probably too many, but my hope is that as a group we'll encourage each other to stretch our quilting skills and try something other than basic loops and meandering.

Paper Piecing at WonderFil Threaducation Centre

I'll be teaching a paper piecing class at the WonderFil Threaducation Centre Saturday, April 9.  I'm excited as I don't teach this class often and as a result, I don't paper piece very often.  I do like to paper piece, I just find that I get sidetracked and do other things and leave paper piecing alone for a while.

There are many methods of paper piecing, but my favourite is a combination of a few methods. I`ll be teaching this super easy method at the class.  You won`t need any extra tools other than regular rotary cutting tools and thread snips.  I am essentially a lazy and impatient person, so I am always looking for a faster and easier way to do ALL things in my life.  I`ll share all my little tricks and tips with you in the class.

I'll be teaching students how to PAPER PIECE while you  work on a project of your choice. We are promoting the class using The Jungle Abstractions Quilt: THE LION by Violet Craft, but students are welcome to choose a pattern we have at the Threaducation Centre or bring along your own.  I have a few that will be available.

This is the Wild & Goosey block from Bonnie Hunter.  The blocks finish at 3" each.  Sew 4 together and you'll have 6" blocks.  These are super easy and unfortunately, hardly make a dent in your scraps.  If you come to class and choose to make these blocks, bring plenty of scraps and we'll share! 

This is pineapple block.  It finishes at 7 1/2".  An odd size I know, but I was going for the largest size block I could print on my printer.  By sewing the blocks in alternating colour ways, you will end up with diagonal lines and circles.  I call the pattern Xs and Os.  Don`t see the Xs and Os`?  Squint as you look at the picture.  The effect will be much clearer with more blocks.

The next 4 quilts are supper mini Woven Geese.  This is a pattern I wrote many years ago and still enjoy challenging myself to sew the tiny, tiny blocks occasionally.

The largest blocks are 3" in 6 shades of blue hand dyed fabrics.

The 2nd quilt is made up of  2 1/2" blocks.  I used 6 colours of the colour wheel - Purple, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue.

  

Quilt #3 used 2" blocks in a hand dyed fabric gradation from Red to Blue

And finally the very mini's blocks are 1 1/2" in another hand dyed gradation from green to pink.

As I was preparing for the class, I decided to pull ideas from my saved files and found this Circle of Geese pattern.  I've always wanted to do this as a 12 step colour wheel on a black background.  As I didn't have any black fabric at home, I choose some Batik pre-cut 5" squares and repeated the 3 fabrics around the circle. 

  

I need to continue to work on the Lion.  This is a big project: 60" square, but it is going together well.  I hope to see you at the class.

Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew Along, .......Long overdue post

September 29.  SEPTEMBER 29.....can you believe that I haven't really done anything on this quilt since my last post!!!!

Actually, I've sewn a few blocks, but not enough to brag about.  Thought I'd share a bit of my plans to maybe not get completely caught up, but well on the way.

The logical thing in my mind would be to sew each block in order.  The lovely folks at Gnome Angel are setting the schedule.  So, to keep from getting confused, I've put a little line to the right of each block that has been released as per the schedule. Some of those blocks have a cross hatch meaning I've sewn that block....Woot Woot!  AND I've put a "P" to the left of each block that I've printed to paper piece.   I'm starting to think that Paper Piecing may be a more efficient way for me to sew these blocks.

My first paper pieced block was Autumn. I printed the paper pattern and trimmed each section down.

From experience I've found that keeping the paper attached to the block until each edge is stitched to something else, keep the block from stretching the seams from coming undone.

I'm using the setting from the book, but I want to make a large queen size quilt.  I don't really want to make more than the 100 blocks, so I'm going to add a narrow sashing strip between the block rows. As I complete each block I'm going to sew them together into strip sets.  The idea is that once the blocks are done, the quilt will be done too!

I've printed up a number of blocks and will soon sit down (I hope) and stitch these up.

I may never get caught up, but I'll plod along anyway.

The Splendid Sampler #1

OK, OK, so participating in the Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt along isn't enough, I have decided to ALSO do The Splendid Sampler.  More 6" blocks....goodie!

Debby Brown was telling us about this sew along last week when she was in Calgary teaching at the WonderFil Threaducation Centre.  She showed us a couple of the blocks she has already sewn and I was hooked!

I'm thinking of hosting a monthly or bi-weekly sew time, where I can get together with others and sew the blocks.  We would offer help and support to one another as we work on the blocks.

Last week when Debby was here we took a drive to the mountains.  No drive west is complete without a visit to Sugar Pine Quilt Company in down town Canmore.   I ALWAYS spend a few minutes upstairs and pick up a few batiks.  I think they have the best selection around!  So, I  picked up a bunch and have chosen a teal/blue/green colour scheme for this quilt.  Here are some of the fabrics and I am sure I'll add more as time progresses.

The first 5 blocks are cut and ready to sew.  I think I'll try to cut and store in plastic bags so that I will always be prepared and can sit down and sew with minimal prep time.

Finish 2016 #2

I'm well on my way to finishing some projects during 2016.  Although I have listed a few projects I WANT to finish this year, I am keeping the book for just FINISHED projects.

So one of the quilts that I had on my list to get done from a few years ago was one I called "garden path".  I quilted it, then over quilted with a heavier thread to quilt some flowers.   I didn't like it at all. Then it ended up folded on the floor under my ironing board and my puppy Boots used to lie on it and keep me company while I was sewing.  Boots went to camp during the summer and the quilt has been just hanging around since. 

 

I was pinteresting one day and saw a whole bunch of posts about making foot stools.  So, this quilt has become 2 lovely foot stools for my living room.  This will keep us from putting our feet up on the coffee table.

I used the following links as the basis for my foot stools.

bean bag cube

square floor cushion

fabric poof ottoman

I measured from the floor to the top of the couch cushion at 14".  I have a 15" square ruler, so it was easy to cut the 15" squares and use the width of my sewing foot as my seam guide.  I cut 6 squares for the cube.  I sewed the squares together into the cube, leaving an opening along one edge.  I had some bean bag pellets left over from making my granddaughter's bean bag chair in the summer.

This is where my plan fell apart!  Have you ever tried pouring a very large bag of bean bag pellets into a small opening all on your own?   Doesn't work very well!  I've made a real mess, but I got it done.

  

Once I had filled the bag full enough, I hand stitched the opening closed.

A lovely sewn pouf and a practical project as well. Now to clean up the mess.

  

I had some of the quilt left over and instead of just pitching it, I decided to sew another pouf.  This time I rotated the ruler a little bit and cut the squares on a bit of a diagonal.

Stuffing the pouf was way easier as I used up scraps from the rest of the quilt and some class stitching samples I had laying around.

I still needed more to stuff the pouf so folded and added some old towels and other scraps.  One of the posts I found had suggested to fill the gaps with fibre fill. Since I couldn't find any at home and I wanted to get this pouf done, I just sewed it shut.  This one is a bit softer and will make a really nice seat for a little one.

All that's left to do is print a picture or two and record these in my FINISH 2016 book.

Debby Brown was in town.....

AND I learned so much!

I had the extreme privilege of hosting Debby Brown at my house and at the WonderFil Threaducation Centre this week.  Debby is a very experienced and talented Quilter and Teacher.  She taught classes for 4 days and presented an evening trunk show.  I took a few pictures and lots of notes.  I now need to quilt, quilt and quilt.

Here are some pictures of Debby and the other lucky students in her classes.

Diamonds class

Not an Artist Class

Micro stitching

Debby Showing us how she does it.

We had a full house for her trunk show on Wednesday evening.

Loved her stories

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More Stories

We had a power failure on Thursday morning during our Feathers class.  This didn't stop Debby from teaching.

A loved quilt!

Over 22 years ago very good friends brought home a beautiful little almost 2 year old daughter.  To commemorate the special occasion, I made a quilt for Marylyn.

Yesterday, I found this now 24 year old snuggled under a very faded, tattered and well loved quilt.  I don't have a picture of the quilt when it was first finished, but I do have some shots of it now.

My rule is that if I make a quilt for you and you use it and abuse it....I'll gladly make you another one.  I've already made Marylyn a 2nd quilt and that one stays on her bed.  

I feel blessed that my work is still being loved!