Tuesday 31 October 2017

Liberating Bonnie & Camille!


I want to make a quilt for a friend and have decided to liberate more of my beautiful Bonnie & Camille prints for the purpose.  They don't make anyone smile just locked up in a box, do they?



My friend has eclectic tastes - very modern but loves Cath Kidston style too, so I'm hoping that I can carry off something with this selection of B&C prints that she will take pleasure in.



I decided to keep the piecing quite large in order to cater for the modern side of my friend's tastes and I was inspired by Just Jude's amazing Boho Autumn quilt.  It's a perfect design to showcase prints without chopping them up too small.

My HSTs aren't quite as large as the one's in Judith's design.  These are 12.5" unfinished.  I love it already and I think this might be hard to part with.



I've reached the stage where the little corner triangles are ready to be stitched in place, and I'm itching to get at it so I can see how it all works out.  QI - Quilter's Impatience!  



Oh, and I may have started piecing my B&C scraps into pairs a la Scrap Vortex quilt style.  I was wondering why this scrappy quilt is called Scrap Vortex, but now I think it's because you get sucked in (to the vortex) once you start!  It was VERY hard not to keep sewing forever just to piece all my wee B&C scraps into more usable units.  I must remember that it's not a main project - LOL!

So, there you go, B&C is getting liberated around here and it's fun!!

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Sunday 29 October 2017

Bee Blessed Block call for November


Bee Blessed are hoping you can help them out with some speedy, fun 16 patch blocks suitable for modern men quilts.  I did chuckle when I read the colour specs and saw "modern brown" on the list but I know exactly what that means so it was a really helpful prompt - sludge, be gone!  

The blocks are made using the fab tutorial by Fiona Poppy Makes here.   All the details are over on the Bee Blessed Blog here.  Deadline for blocks is 25 November.  While you're there be sure to read their latest update and see all the gorgeous quilts they've been able to pass on with your help. 

So what are you waiting for?  Grab your fabrics and rotary cutter, switch on your machine and get to it ;-)

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Sunday 15 October 2017

FAL 2017: Meet the Host Post #11

It's time to meet another of your FAL 2017 hosts today.  Read on and read Felicity's introduction - you are in for a treat!




Helloooo!

I'm Felicity

and this is my family - Husband of 17 years K and our nearly-10-year-old daughter G:

being silly, something we do very well

I am lucky enough to live in Naramata, British Columbia. It's a village of fewer than 2,000 people nestled on the Naramata Bench in one of Canada's fruit- and wine-producing regions, the Okanagan Valley.



As you can see, we're on the side of a lake, and it's a big tourist destination because our summer weather is hot and dry.


We moved to Naramata from Vancouver just over a year ago. After living for nearly 25 years in Vancouver, we grew tired of the traffic and the astronomical cost of living and decided to take a different approach to life. We couldn't be happier.

I quit my job in the financial services industry and now I work part time in a local quilt shop as a designer, teacher and retail associate. I also work from home as a training and development consultant. My husband was a stay at home dad in Vancouver and he also works part time here in the area.

I began quilting in 2000, shortly after I got married. My husband is the one who encouraged me to look for a beginner's class because I spent a lot of time looking at and admiring quilts in museums and at shows but I was too intimidated to try it myself. But boy am I glad I did. I knew from the first minute of that first class that this was going to be my thing.

This is my first quilt - the classic beginner's sampler with one large scale fabric plus some blenders.


I even free motion quilted it all by myself on my tiny Bernina 145.



Yikes, amirite? But you know what? That was the start of something, and you gotta start somewhere.

Baby quilts for nieces and nephews happened in due course, as did a quilt for my husband's 40th birthday (2 years late).


I subscribed to quilting magazines, I read books about quilting, I could spend a whole weekend at a quilt retreat and come home and sew some more. It consumed all of my free time! Eventually, though, I got to the point where I was reading about quilting but becoming overwhelmed by all the projects I wanted to do so I didn't start anything.

Thankfully, I was able to give myself a good talking to, and came to my senses. Every quilt is just a whole bunch of seams that are sewn one at a time, right? Well, I said to myself, just commit to 20 minutes a day of sewing something. Anything. But sew. Eventually you'll get something done.

One of my first modern quilts

I was right! I did get lots done, aided as well by the explosion of the online world of modern quilting. I found Flickr and the myriad active quilt groups it hosted (RIP, old Flickr). I also found quilt blogs and started my own as a way to keep myself accountable by journalling my progress.


It's not an exaggeration to say that blogging and sharing online changed my life! I found Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild online and attended the first meeting in mid-2010. I met dear friends in person and via blogging (and blogging friends became in-person friends too). I participated in Flickr quilt swaps, virtual bees and met many of my online friends at the inaugural QuiltCon in Austin.



These two quilts won honourable mention at QuiltCon 2013.

Though  I don't do many swaps anymore and online bees have fallen a little out of fashion, I still belong to a virtual quilt bee with 9 other incredible quilters, called Bee Sewcial. We work in solids only and we piece improvisationally based on that month's prompt and colour story.

Winter is my first quilt finished with Bee Sewcial blocks. The prompt was "abstract minimalist winter landscapes in shades of grey." Did my bee mates deliver or what? I love this quilt, and I will be submitting it to QuiltCon 2018 show.

Winter, a Bee Sewcial Collaboration

I like to have lots of projects on the go, in varying degrees of complexity because I never know what I want to work on at any given time.

Here's a sampling of some of my favourite quilts from over the years:

In a (Solid) Pickle, 2011 (swap quilt)

Burst of Colour, 2013

Helen Keller Wisdom, 2011


Selfie, 2015


Naramata Summer, 2014 (made after a visit and before we knew we'd be moving here!)


Modern Stripes, 2016 (accepted to QuiltCon 2017)

I'm extremely fortunate to be able to have a completely separate studio to work in - we finished the 450 square foot space over our detached 2-car garage just for my quilting. (Truth be told that space was what sold us on this house. Good thing we like the rest of it!)

 
Before

After

I love participating in the Finish A Long, and I'm so happy to be a host as well. We motivate each other to get our beautiful projects finished so we can move along to the next thing that makes us happy, yes? Yes.

Thanks for visiting with me!

Saturday 14 October 2017

Syringe Driver Bags for Macmillan Cancer Support




You may have seen Just Jude's call out for help with making syringe driver bags for chemotherapy patients posted at the end of August.  But just in case you missed it, please do go and have a read and see if you might be able to help her with the ongoing need that Macmillan Cancer Support has for these little bags.

As you can see, I made 6 bags to send.  I hadn't planned on six but when I went to pull fabric, just sort of ended up with enough and kept cutting!  The pairs in the same fabrics are one of each size (for a single syringe driver and a double)  and I had to dig deep in my stash to find some fabric suitable to stitch up bags with a more masculine vibe.

If you have an hour to spare, please, please consider helping folks who are undergoing chemo by sending a bag or two to Judith.  This is an ongoing appeal so you have tons of time.  All of the details and a great tutorial are on Judith's blog post here.

You might also like to read how appreciated your efforts would be if you could spare a little sewing time to help out.  Macmillan have written a little thank you via Judith's blog for the lovely bags already received.


Tuesday 3 October 2017

FAL 2017 - My Quarter 4 List


Time for my last proposals list of this year's Finish-A-Long.  Here goes!





Quilt Now BOM
I so love this quilt and really would like to find myself having time to finish the hand quilting, stitch on the binding and call it a finish by 31 December.  Overly ambitious? Ever hopeful? Madness? Could be any one of those, but if it's on the list it might get some attention when there are sewing hours to be had.


Spring Tulips Kitchen Window Quilt
This project is new to my list since it just got cut out at the weekend.  If you're following my IG feed you will have seen that I've made a couple of little kitchen accessories to prettify an Ikea child's kitchen which may arrive courtesy of Mr Claus later in the year. Well, this stack of cutting will hopefully make a little window quilt for the kitchen because I think it would be so lovely to have a kitchen window full of brightly coloured tulips!





Cosy Christmas Quilt
I'll keep this one on the list to justify calling it a list at all. Two projects aren't much of a list, are they?   So, maybe if I'm feeling festive later in the quarter, this little stack of block beginnings might get some stitchy attention.


So, a list of three and a great big pinch of optimism it is for Quarter 4 then!  What's going on your list this quarter?


Linking up to FAL Quarter 4 Proposals.

Sunday 1 October 2017

2017 Finish-A-Long: Quarter 4 Proposed Finishes Linky Now Open!


Can you believe it?  Quarter 4 already?  There have been so many fantastic finishes with this year's FAL already - more than 1200!! - but I'm sure you lovelies can push that number up with lots of Christmas stitching plans and more dents in your current WIPS list.  So, go ahead and make your Quarter 4 proposed finishes list and be sure to link up below.

The FAL is hosted by a community of bloggers across the world. Our hosts are:
  • Sarah - Sew me - Northern Ireland

For those of you who are new to the FAL, it is a place to find motivation and encouragement to complete those unfinished projects that are hanging about becoming UFOs. Every quarter you post a list of projects you hope to finish in the next three months, and then at the end of the quarter, you post a link from your blog, Flickr or Instagram of each successful finish from your original list.

Each finish is an entry for wonderful prizes from our sponsors. There is no penalty for not finishing a listed project, so feel free to make your list long or short, as you wish. The 2017 Schedule and Rules for the FAL are on my permanent FAL page, let me know if you have any questions.

Here are the fantastic and generous sponsors for Q4 of the FAL - you can see each of their prizes listed under their logo (think about visiting them and saying thank you):



It's time to round up those projects you want to finish over the next three months, take a photo of each one and make your list. Please ensure that you have at least started your projects - pulled fabric with a pattern is considered a UFO, and remember it is only finished projects that will get you an entry toward the above listed prizes. So while we love to see your bee blocks, the "finish" is when they are a completed, usable project.

It is very helpful if you tag your list as #2017FALQ4yourname when posting on social media: Flickr, Facebook & Instagram. Using the same hashtag over the quarter when sharing progress or finishes before the link, helps the hosts find your original list quickly - especially when this is done over a 3 month period. IMPORTANT: Don't forget to link your finishes up when the quarter closes.

The 2017 Q4 link for your list of proposed finishes is now open below on my blog and on each of the hosting blogs. You need only link your list once, on one blog - and that link will show up on all of the blogs. If you are using Facebook, Flickr or Instagram, link a mosaic and put your list in the description. Katy of The Littlest Thistle has a great tutorial on how to link-up if you need it.

We also ask that you become part of the FAL community. Please check out the links of others - visit and comment on their lists. We all need encouragement to get those finishes done, so please share some of your own too. When creating your list there is one thing to remember....No deductions for not completing something so ..... Aim High! Nothing to lose!!! Well Now..... Get those lists together and get linked up. 

The Q4 proposed finish linky party will stay open until 11 pm EST, October 7, 2017- as we are global, you might want to check your time zone to determine your last possible time to link. Remember: you only need to link up on ONE hosting blog and it will automatically show up on all hosting blogs. 






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