my favourite mini quilt

Yesterday was my best friend Michele's 40th birthday!  I am sure she loves me sharing that with the world ;)  But hers is extra important to me- she survived a rare SCAD heart attack a few years ago, so after having had to face the possibility of losing her, I am all the more grateful to have such an amazing friend in my life.

For the big 4-0, she put in a request over 6 months ago- admiring the mini quilt I have at the cottage with and Emerson quote, she asked if I could make her something similar with a quote that has been a mantra of sorts for her since her heart attack:

"Do not let yesterday take up too much of today." 

For months I waited for my inspiration to strike.  How to make the quote and the fabric come together into something inspiring and beautiful.  It stumped me.  Then I got to thinking about life, and how we are all made up of these random experiences, some good and some bad, but how they all meld together to form us as a person.  How often it starts out one way and then takes on another path, a diversion.....about all the colours and textures that make up a life.  Kind of magical.

I set out without any end plan.  I just started piecing bits of neutrals together.  Got out some fabric paint and stamps.  Pieced some wonky letters in colours where I wanted impact.   Tried my hand at  some embroidery.  And slowly brought it all together. The more randomness I added, the more cohesive the piece started to look and the more I liked where it was going. And here is the end result!

The quilting included some new frontiers for me, and I went with the same carefree attitude I had with the piecing. I channelled my inner Krista Withers and started filling negative space with swirls, pebbles, lines.  The quilting is dense and the resulting texture is amazing.

Added sections of clamshells and waves and used touches of hand stitching to accent the stamped letters and to outline the pieced ones.

On the back, the London subway map fabric (to represent time she spent living in England). And some hanging sleeves with a birthday message :)  For the binding, I continued with the scrappy theme.

It was gifted yesterday, and Michele declared it was her favourite gift she received (which pretty much brought tears to my eyes).  Then we had a lovely afternoon at the spa....now I am HOPING this is indicative of life in our 40s?!?!

Happiest of birthdays, Michele xoxox

ode to the sea....

It is mid-April and summer is nowhere to be found in and around these parts.  The snow on either side of my front walk is still tall enough to conceal my Kindergartener, and I am beginning to spend every free moment day dreaming of sun and sand.

I decided to make a little mini quilt, incorporating my favourite summertime quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air."  

That is EXACTLY what I wish to be doing right now :)

I pieced random scraps of blue, using cottons, corduroys, linens, voiles, all adding to the texture, starting with darker tones at the bottom and graduating to lighter shades towards the top.  I added a scrap of precious Mendocino mermaids at the top.  I hand stamped the quote onto natural cotton, using lettered stamps from Stampin' Up and a fabric paint marker.  I cut the rows of blues in curves, to replicate the sea, and then straight cut in the quote pieces.

Free motion quilting was done in a sea colored thread, adding waves, crests and pebbles.

The binding is my favourite part: Joel Dewberry Aviary woodgrain fabric, cross stitched to the front with Pearle 8 thread.  I will be doing this again!

On the back, I added sleeves for a dowel for hanging, stamping my name and date, and what I was doing while I was making it :)

I am so very pleased with how this mini turned out.  As some of you may recall, our family had a summer cottage that was destroyed in a storm a couple years ago.  Finally, the rebuilding phase has begun, and I plan to give this mini a place of honour there when we start again.

I intended to enter this as my Sew Off Home Dec entry for week 2 of the competition.  And I DID make it through the first round- I placed 4th out of 12, with the top 9 progressing!  But, I opted out of the contest.  I am busy with so many other things needing my time in my life, and I realized I don't enjoy being judged for what I make...this is my hobby, my escape, and I want to do it just for ME!  So, thanks for your support and your votes, but this girl plans to stay contest free for the time being!

Wishing you a day filled with sunshine!

Luck of the Irish

I have been feeling green this weekend, which is fitting seeing as it is St. Patrick's Day and all! I have been working on my Emerald Challenge for the Sew-vivor contest, and also put the finishing touches on my min/pillow cover for the Pantone Emerald Challenge over at a.squared.w.....JUST in time for the deadline in a few hours!

I decided to do a mini quilt, measuring 14.5" square, with a zippered back to allow for use as a pillow cover as well. Feels nice and spring-like, which I can definitely use right now considering the unseasonably cold weather we are having around here!

Just raw-edge appliqued a bunch of my scraps onto some linen, then did a bunch of pebble quilting in the open spaces.

A concealed sipper closure (using Svetlana's tutorial), some green binding with a splash of pink, and it is all done!

Happy St. Patty's Day!  Back with my other Emerald project on Wednesday :)

twinkle :)

Finished up my circle of stars mini quilt/ table topper!

I decided to do some hand quilting...I think it finished off the project perfectly.  I practiced using a couple different kinds of stitches...french knots, crosses and so on.  I just let it evolve and had fun. 

While I was stitching away, I was in my glory watching this movie.  Do you know it?  Classic stuff.  One of my favorites from the 90s....toe pick!

The plan is to use this as a table topper, but in case I change my mind down the road, I added these triangles on the back for a dowel so I can use it as a wall hanging as well.

And now it has a place of honour on the table for the holiday season!

 

I am so pleased with how this came together.   Sharing over at Quilt Story.

Awesome swaps, take 2

In addition to some fantastic pillows, I also received a second fun swap package last week, from Cherie of Sew and So Quilts.  Cherie and I met at Sewing Summit last year, and have been friends ever since.  She found some adorable slippers on Pinterest and wondered if I could make her a pair.  I did a test knit, making some for myself to figure out the process first, then made some for Cherie.  I sent them off along with some assorted goodies, many the same as in Svetlana's package (and never thought to take a photo first, oops!).   In exchange, she agreed to make me this wonderful holiday mini:

(I was too excited to iron this first, haha!)

I just love it!  I have had this pattern (from Purl Bee) on my to-do list for ages!  I love that it was instead made by a friend, so that I can smile and think of her each Christmas when I hang it on my wall :)

She did a fantastic job, I  adore all of the fabrics she chose, the quilting, the binding and backing...the whole shebang!  Now I just have to pick up a dowel so I can hang it on my wall this holiday season, and for many more to come.  Thanks so much for a great swap, Cherie!

Mother-daughter quilt collaborations

I was thinking that I would make Last But Not Least a doll quilt for Christmas, using the design she drew as she was so excited about it. But, seeing as my kids have the attention span of goldfish and in 6 weeks she would likely not even remember, I thought I would instead make this a "together" project that we could work on over the weekend, between ballet, tap, hockey and several hundred loads of laundry. You know, life.

So we started by pulling fabrics to represent her purple, pink and yellow color scheme- I love how well the Anna Maria Horner print goes with the Hope Valley! We chose some Erin McMorris that I have been hoarding for 2 years for the back.


Next, I made a quilt sandwich and bound it up with some of my favorite yellow seed stitch fabric. Then I ironed some Heat and Bond to the back of strips of fabric, and then had the girls cut them up into nice wonky squares, just like in the "design"!

Last But Not Least then used her drawing as a guide and instructed her sister as to where the squares should be placed. I gave them a press and then sewed them onto the sandwich, ticker tape style.

Voila! A completed doll quilt. Smiles are free.

When asked if she was happy with the quilt she designed and help to make, her answer was, "It's nice and all, but I think my picture looks MUCH better." Can't win 'em all. To be fair, she was cranky and suffering from separation anxiety from Kitty, who was in the wash due to an unfortunate swim in the toilet at some point in the midst of all this fun. Life.

Well, for those of you who have more than one child, you know what comes next.

The Middle Child announces, "Don't I get to make a quilt?"

Of course you do. Fair is fair.

She is all about princesses and puppies, and since I have a huge stack of Heather Ross FFA2 that I am still planning to use to make a quilt for her bed (eventually), I suggested we start there. She selected the fabrics she wanted and got to work making a design of her own. But don't forget the pink puppies, Mom! Out comes the Pips.


I made this one wonky long cabin style, kind of like the blocks I had started with the Ghastlies. I must have been in a wordy mood that day as I chose another text print for the binding here, by Sweetwater (though I am too lazy to get up and go look at which one). For quilting, I just did some straight line quilting around the edges, because, let's face it, at this point it was time to make supper already.


The Middle Child was very pleased with the result (no critiques at all this time!).

So, my friends, that is the tale of 2 minis, made with my daughters, on a sunny and crispy cold Saturday afternoon. Probably the most fun I have had quilting in a very long time. And that's what it's all about!

Linking up at Canoe Ridge Creations and Quilt Story.