Roll Roll Cotton Boll is a flimsy!!

I can't believe it myself!  I worked like a madwoman - well I was angry and maybe that helped.. lol

My design wall is not large enough for this beast, so poor Joey is standing on the loveseat, trying to hold it up for me to take a picture, and even so, the top row of blocks is folded over behind, so it's still not a full shot, but close enough.

As of Friday night, I only had the rows sewn together and about 4 of the diagonal rows sewn to each other.  I finished off sewing the rows to the middle point, then started from the other end and sewed those together, and then sewed the 2 halves together.

Then, the inner border was done.

Then, I had to sew all those parallelograms into the sets needed for the top and side borders and the corners.  Unfortunately, I seemed to be short on the borders and had to add 2 more parallelograms to each one.  These pieced borders aren't perfect, but it was a good learning experience and I'll know what to keep in mind and watch out for in future ones.

I can't believe how warm this thing is, even without being sandwiched yet.  Having it draped over my lap pinning the borders on kept me warm enough I was thinking I should turn the furnace down.  Good thing I didn't cause we woke up to fresh snow this morning!

Thank you so much Bonnie for a wonderful mystery quilt.  This pattern will be in her next book coming out in July and it's not for the faint of heart, but it's well worth the effort and was a great learning experience for me. 

How I'm going to manage to sandwich this properly and quilt it is still being decided.  I think I'm going to use the board method to sandwich it.... and That Man Quilts had some beautiful pictures of how he quilted his... I might have to try to duplicate some of those ideas.

Then I can get back to her Orca Bay mystery.  :)

I also took pictures of my snowmen placemats.  I've had these done for a while but hadn't photographed them yet.

Aren't they cute?  There are 4 of them in total.  This project was really good for me to practice my applique skills.  I have another pattern with mittens to do.  Maybe I'll have those done for next christmas.. lol

I'm also going to get a picture soon of the dresden plate table runner I completed for my glass coffee table.  I used a Stonehenge charm pack and I love the fabrics.

Orca Bay - Step 4

As Bonnie says in her blog post "there are many ways to skin a cat", and seriously, where did that saying come from?  It's creepy!!

Here's what I've been doing with my Orca Bay Step 4.

First, sew my teal/turquoise/green strings and strips onto 5.5" papers (I've done over 20 I think so far, here's 7 of the blocks).

Then, remove the papers

Now I starch them (with BestPress) and press them, hard.  I want to ensure they keep their shape, no shifting, no wobbling when I cut them, and no distorting later when we get to the point where they'll be sewn to something else.

Here they are, flat as flat can be.

Now to the cutting.
First, I'm cutting down the center across the strips.  No I'm not measuring anything at this point.  I know I have a lot of lee-way since my papers were 5.5" square and my strips extended past that point, and we only need them to be 5 1/8th".

This is where they get real pretty.
Using the Easy Angle Companion ruler as Bonnie suggested, I line up the 3 1/2" mark with the bottom of the triangle (or the center cut I'd made), and follow the ruler to make pretty little triangles.

On some of them, I shifted to either the right or the left as much as possible to have a sliver of trimming on one side, but a good chunk of sewn together fabrics on the other side - Crumb Starters!!

How well do they play with my purple strings from Step 2?

Let's see

I think they stand out well enough... and then think of black and whites surrounding them... this is going to be one pretty quilt!

Thank you Bonnie!!!

OMG! Can you feel the electricity?

The quilting world is a-buzz! (well, at least any followers of Bonnie Hunter are).

She has posted the first step of her new mystery quilt today, Orca Bay.
Needless to say, I will be joining in, even though my Roll Roll Cotton Boll still isn't done. :)

I don't know what it is though, I can't seem to keep my mind on one project these days.  Every time I check/read blogs, I see new ideas, new crafts, new gifts to make.

A couple of days ago I made this, one of those funky leaf bowls. 

I remembered seeing them somewhere and did a search.  Quilt Canada had members make them for their big conference.  You can find the pattern here.  I had a hell of a time zig zag stitching the edges.  That probably took more time than any other part of it.

I had to modify the pattern a bit.  I didn't have the fusible stuff they suggested, something similar to TimTex, so I just used a couple pages of Heat and Bond on a scrap piece of fabric in the middle, between my inside and outside layers.  It works for me!

Then, Cathy and Denise decided to try something new.  Faux Applique.  The author even has a tutorial on her website to give an idea of how it's done.  Guess what?  PLAY TIME!!!

I couldn't find the textile medium that Helen suggested in her tutorial (of course not - some things are just next to impossible to locate in this country).  And when you really have the bug to make something, you don't want to order online and wait a week or two for the product to get to you.

Searching the craft and art stores locally, I found Michael's has a product by Martha Stewart, a tintable fabric medium.

According to the description, this should work.

"Mix with Martha Stewart Crafts Acrylic Paints for a softer, more flexible finish when painting on fabric. Mix 1 part medium to 2 parts paint. Heat set projects for permanence and washability. Waterbased."

I'm not mixing it with one of her paints, I'm using pencil crayons! 

In my Quilting Designs program (from EQ), there was a cute little flower picture.  Simple is better right?  Especially when you're just trying something out.

Here's what mine looks like right now.

I didn't want just solid coloured flowers so I tried to shade them a bit, overlapping the colours.

This piece is about 6 inches by 6 inches.  And no I didn't forget a flower and stem, it only had three. :)

Anyways, once this dries (in 24 hours) then I can heat set it and then I'll do some free motion quilting around it, maybe just outlining... not sure yet.

This could make a nice little cover piece for my kindle!

Alright, now I'm off to finish putting the borders on my cruise quilt.  I've made a promise to myself.  Even though I'm going to follow along with Bonnie's new mystery, I'm going to get the cruise quilt and RRCB to the flimsy stage before I even start cutting for Orca Bay. (yeah... right!)  LOL

I must be crazy!

Well, maybe not crazy in that sense, but definitely crazy in love with Bonnie's designs.  Ever since I received the Australian Homespun "Blue Issue" magazine (volume 12, issue 6) with Bonnie Hunter's pattern, Jamestown Landing, I've wanted to make it in reds.

My mom's favourite colour is red and I want to make it for her.  So on Sunday I dove into my reds and neutrals, ironed, starched, ironed, starched, cut 2 1/2 inch strips til I thought I was going to go insane. 

Then I took a break from all the ironing and cutting strips and started cutting half square triangles.  Ok, this is going to take f o r e v e r!  LOL 

Bonnie's pattern takes 840 half square triangle blocks, each made with one red triangle and one neutral triangle.  I stacked a red strip and then a neutral and then another red strip and another neutral so I'm cutting four triangles at a time.  Stack them in piles of 40, and voila!  I have 14 piles, 540 cut. 

I thought, whoohoo!!  Over half done.  Then I did the math again and realized that's only 20 blocks in each pile.... I actually need a total of 1,680 triangles, half of those red, half of those neutral.. eeeek!!  I'm only about 34% done. 

Oh well.... it's the process right?  And it will be gorgeous when it's done.

I'm doing all this while expecting to start Bonnie's new mystery quilt, Orca Bay.... and I still can't decide on my colours for it.

What was I thinking???

Great reading, wonderful inspiration and travel dreams

I love travelling.  Most people do.  It brings to mind sunny beaches, exotic foods, enchanting people and new, wonderful experiences. 

After our cruise with Bonnie Hunter this summer, Jim and I both want to take another trip and/or cruise.  Bonnie is currently on a cruise in the Caribben with about 60 of her followers/fans.  They are going to have a fantastic time.

I happened to click on Jim West's site www.sewmanyplaces.com as he's the one who organized both these cruises, and is actively promoting Bonnie's Bali trip next year.  Jim West is an amazing individual, has incredible stories to tell, and is a pleasure to travel with.  Even without our name tags during the cruise, I'm positive he would have remembered all of our names. 

While that would be an absolutely awesome trip, I really can't justify the price to go.  The trip itself, plus my travel costs to and from the west coast of the United States to start and end the trip, as well as spending money, would probably equate to about $500 per day.  Definitely not in the budget.  I'll have to live vicariously through Bonnie's blog after their trip is complete.

As for the reason for my blog today, when I was on Jim's site, I noticed the tab for a magazine.  Curiousity got the better of me and I clicked on the button to see what it was all about.  Quiltposium is a very unique title for the magazine.

Expectedly, the magazine lists and describes in detail the trips and tours that they are organizing in the near future and even a couple years from now.

What I wasn't expecting, were all the inspiring quilting related articles, some by well known quilt artists and others by Jim himself.  In addition to those, there are recipes, links to quilt related sites and free quilt patterns that you can download.

Since I was reading the Summer 2011 issue, I wasn't prepared to see my face, and those of my quilting buddies on the cruise!  The article doesn't specifically talk about us, rather it speaks of the different dynamics of personalities of people who travel together, good and bad.

A very interesting read, and I'm happy to say, I believe our summer cruise group had a blast without any issues with personalities clashing.  They were such a wonderful, helpful, friendly group.  I chalk that up to the quality of people who follow Bonnie.  They speak volumes about the type of quilter she is, how she views life, and her generous nature.  People of the same caliber seem to gravitate to one another, and our bunch of cruisers was definitely no exception.

I'm sure I speak for a lot of people, when I say, "Thank you Bonnie for bringing us all together, for sharing your expertise, and being the beautiful person you are.  You have become a mentor, an inspiration and a dear friend."

Look at these happy quilters!!

PS.  Jim, if you read this... I love the story of "Joe the Barber" in the Spring 2011 issue.  *hugs*

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Yes, for us Canadians, it's our Thanksgiving weekend.

Since we spend it at Jim's mom's house (tomorrow), I've made the stuffing, stuffed the bird, and put it in the oven. 

Later on today when it's out of the oven, I'll make the gravy and start on the pumpkin cheesecakes.  YUM!!  And for a low-carb, diabetic friendly version, they're DELICIOUS!  (I'll post the recipe on my recipe page later).

While the turkey's cooking, laundry's being done, you guessed it, I'm sewing!

First thing's first.  Fix my buckwheat husk pillow.  Jake decided to chew on it a while back and I hadn't had time to empty the husks and make a new case for it.  I used half of an old pillowcase for it, so that's done.

Next is to fix the comforter cover that he chewed a few holes in (aren't puppies wonderful?)  Put the cover through the washer and dryer.  I have one of the two pillow cases for the set (the one he chewed a hole in as well), and I'm going to use pieces of that to patch the cover.

But I swear I'm falling prey to that old joke where the elderly lady goes to do one thing, see's something else that needs to be done, goes to do that, finds something else out of place, goes to return that, realizes she has to put something else back in it's place, and you know the routine.  By the end of the day she wonders why she hasn't accomplished anything, especially the first items that she started.

Anyways, along that line, I had a pile of bow ties on my sewing machine table.  I'd cut up a ton of cheddar 2 1/2" squares and every other fabric I could lay my hands on into 2 1/2" and 1 1/2" squares to make some of Bonnie's bow ties.  I made 5 the other night just so I could see what they looked like.  I had already sewed the corners on all of them, and sewed one set of the pairs together.  I really didn't want to just gather them all up and put in a box until later.

Sew, sew, sew, iron, iron, iron, Voila!  Thirty five more bow tie blocks!!  hehehe

Now.. how many am I going to need for a quilt top?  These are 4 1/2" unfinished.  Oh geeze!  I've started another project that will have to be added to my UFO list... LOL

Jim saw them on my design wall and said he really liked them.

All in all, I can't say my day is unproductive.  I am getting things done, turkey cooking, pies later, sewing repairs, bow tie blocks.... just maybe not in the order I had originally planned.

Now where did I put my crumb blocks.... oh wait!  I still have to mend the cover... lol

I've put together a "sewing package" for Jim's mom.  She purchased a sewing machine from a yard sale or goodwill not long ago and wants to learn how to sew.  I figured I could grab some fabrics from my stash, strips, strings, crumbs, a rotary cutter, rulers, cutting mat, thread, machine needles, and my sewing machine repair kit. 

I'll take a look at her machine, give it a cleaning and oiling (where needed), and get her started on some crumb blocks.  Simple ones like 4 patches and maybe some triangles and adding strips until she gets the hang of it.  Who knows... maybe by christmas she'll have enough blocks to make a lap quilt.  Or she may decide she doesn't like piecing.  Who knows?  We won't know til we try.

If we don't fall asleep right after turkey dinner tomorrow, we'll be sewing!  I'm taking my featherweight so I can make some more crumb blocks for my project too.

Ok, back to mending.

Crumb Blocks

Another batch of pictures.  I'm participating in the "Crumb-a-Long" started by Jo.

These are seriously addictive! 

These are so cute and measure 6 1/2 inches (unfinished).  They're a wonderful excuse to just sit and sew with no real pattern in mind and talk about using up all the little bits and scraps! 

I love the little maverick stars... thanks for the demo of them on the cruise Bonnie!  :)

Wedding and Batiks

So, I have friends who are getting married at the end of July.  Not sure I'll have this done, but here's a picture I took of some of the blocks when I was able to put them up on my design wall.

This is without the sashings and cornerstones and only 19 of the 48 blocks that I've made.  Once it's all put together with borders it should be queensized.  Gotta love Bonnie's Pineapple Blossom pattern!

Now the batiks quilt I'll eventually get back to working on was in the Fons & Porter's Best of Love of Quilting - Special Collector's Issue very early this year.  The pattern is called Thousand Pyramids on page 38.  I love batiks and I love how this quilt just glows!

I've made 10 of the required 136 diamonds... this will take a while.

That's all I can post for now... we're off to Bluesfest for the evening.