Should I do a 2011 review thingy?

What can I say, I have been loving all the mosaics out there, and had to jump in with one of my own.

Quilts of 2011:


1. Hockey quilt 1, 2. me and my designing daughters!, 3. Sherbet Pips quilt 1, 4. Fundraiser tree quilt front, 5. Nicey Jane New Wave 3, 6. Postage stamp quilt front 1, 7. Postage stamp quilt back 1, 8. kids and quilts!, 9. HST quilt 2, 10. Rainy Days front completed!, 11. "Quickie Quilt" full frontal :-), 12. Friendship quilts

Ten full quilts and 2 minis completed in 2011 :) A few yet-unfinished quilt tops too, that I haven't included here. By far I get the most attention and requests about Big G's hockey quilt. It is one of my favorites, too. I have long said I plan to make a pattern, and I hope to actually do that in 2012 (but no promises as to when!).


Sewing of 2011:


1. 276, 2. Grab-n-go wristlet by Kaelin, 3. coin purse for Moda Bakeshop, 4. Framed purse tutorial for Moda Bakeshop, 5. SSSS bee blocks, 6. Roll-up bag tutorial, 7. market bags in their natural habitat, 8. cheater cathedral windows tutorial, 9. pillow tutorial, 10. Union Jack coin purse for Amy, 11. Bloom clutch, 12. linen and lace clutch in hand, 13. ballerina bag, take 2, 14. wallet interior, 15. handbags and coordinating wallets, 16. Japanese handbag, 17. Bobbles!, 18. Japanese coin purses, 19. Denyse Schmidt Clutches , 20. tea cozy, 21. felted wool mittens tutorial, 22. felted wool mittens at work!, 23. cell cover 2, 24. vintage sheet quilt top 1

Definitely been the year of the framed purses! This is a great go-to for a gift. If you want to see how it's done, you can check out my tutorial on Moda Bakeshop.


Knitting of 2011:

1. coordinating baby hats for cousins, 2. hats!, 3. mittens!, 4. another Autumn hat in hummingbird, 5. slouch profile, 6. orange sweater joy 4, 7. slouch hat profile, 8. mittens :), 9. Autumn toque in purple side, 10. Baby cardigan 2, 11. My sweet girl in her cardi, 12. Eddie the Elephant, 13. knit hats for me and my youngest, 14. A stripe-ity knit kitty for my girl, 15. This little pig, 16. me and my girl in our hats

Knitting has become my new obsession. I am pretty pleased with how far I have come in just one year! My favorites? LBNL's sweater and a certain x-rated item I knit for my mother for Mother's Day.....

....if you want to see the "full disclosure," you can click here ;)


On a personal level, 2011 had its ups and downs. I am grateful for another year with my family, all of us healthy and growing (I "grew" a few pounds I could do without!), and enjoyed my kids' constant antics, even though they drive me mental much of the time. Funny how people you love so fiercely can make you so batty, eh? I wouldn't trade them for the world. They are growing into fine young people that I admire and adore, I love how they are so polar opposite and each bring something special to the fabric of our family.

We enjoyed some travel this year- Wisconsin Dells and Minneapolis road trip with the family, and my husband and I got an anniversary weekend away in Toronto. I also was very lucky to get to attend Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City- I can't tell you how wonderful it was to meet some of my blogging friends, and to spend an entire weekend immersed in a hobby we all love! I definitely see some quilting retreats in my future, an hope to return to Sewing Summit one day.

Our day to day life has evolved quite a bit this year- the kids are getting older, so my late night sewing time has been getting less and less. I have loved picking up knitting in its place- I can bring it along with me to dance class or hockey practice, so I can still enjoy some creative time without shooting myself in the foot by giving up all of my sleep. I am hoping to find a way to squeak in a bit more time with my sewing machine, though...will work on strategies in the new year. I also need to get in all the other things that make up life- sleep, exercise, work, cooking, cleaning, kids activities, reading and homework, and just some family time. I am working at adjusting and resetting my balance as my "happy" meter has been a bit low this year and I want to keep that in check. It's no fun feeling overwhelmed and anxious all the time, and I want to be sure my new balance includes some down time.

I am looking forward to seeing what 2012 has in store :) And I want to say thanks to all of you for your continued support and friendship....this blog and my blogging friends has been a real source of joy for me. Hugs to all of you and wishing you all the best of everything in 2012!!

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.

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Friendship Quilts

Welcome, Blogger's Quilt Festival visitors! Have fun perusing all the amazing quilts out there. Today I am going to share a new finish with you that is dear to my heart. If you would like to see more of my past quilts, you can find my 2011 quilts here and my 2010 quilts here. Thanks for popping by!

When you were a kid, did you ever exchange jelly bracelets with your best girlfriends? Or make up matching embroidery thread ones? It was also a fad when I was young to decorate your shoelaces with friendship pins adorned with beads, made by your buddies. How about one of those heart necklaces that broke into two pieces, reading "best friends?"

It was along this line of thought that I decided to make matching "friendship quilts" for my best friend and me. We became BFFs (long before there was ever an abbreviation "BFF") back in elementary school in the early 1980s. We both had a knack for skipping double dutch and played a mean game of hopscotch. Over the years, our friendship has grown and encompassed all the things that make up a life- graduations, boyfriends, breakups, marriages, deaths and births. And all the little things, too- shared recipes and bottles of wine, movie nights, girl gossip.

I had bought this fabric awhile back with the intention of making these quilts to celebrate our 30 year "anniversary" of friendship, which will be in 2012. But last month my best friend had a heart attack, a freaky one-in-a-million crappy lottery she won, though she never bought a ticket for this- it was 100% unrelated to genetics or health or lifestyle. So, I thought if there was ever a time when someone needed a little love and comfort, it was now. And so I got to slicing and dicing, and here is what we have:



One for her, one for me. I used Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush line because I loved the vibrant colors and hints of purple, my friend's favorite color. I cut it into charm squares, as she has often commented that this is her favorite kind of quilt: simple patchwork.



I had intended to do some fancy straight line quilting, but wasn't feeling it when I sat down at my machine- it seems that life's paths are anything but straight at the moment, so a meandering pattern it became. I love the way it shows itself on the plush minky backing.



I made a couple hand embroidered labels for the quilts which I hand stitched onto the front.

(my dog always finds the softest places to nap!)

I hope that, while she is recovering from this ordeal, she can feel a hug from me each time that she wraps herself in this quilt....and I will feel the same when I am cuddled up with mine.

Quickie quilt done!

Lately I was feeling a little low in the quilting mojo. No lack of inspiration (or fabric), just not much energy in the tank and starting something new (or finishing up other quilts) felt daunting.

I needed a quickie.

So, when I had an unexpected afternoon off work recently, I neglected to pick up the kids from daycare or do my "to-do" list (it never gets any shorter, anyhow). Instead I spent 3 uninterrupted hours cutting up and sewing together my AMH Little Folks that I bought, in full, May of last year! A very simple strip quilt, completely inspired by the ones by Red Pepper Quilts. I made sure I did it with the rules of:
1. no thinking and
2. no pulling apart seams, no matter what.

Just pulled a fabric from the pile, cut a strip of whatever width, sew it on, etc until it was long enough. One strip was even sewed on with the back facing outwards! Whatever. Left it like that. And I didn't die or anything!


For the backing, I used a sheet I bought on clearance from IKEA. Easy peasy! It is a charcoal color and has a sheen to it that I just LOVE. I normally go for a fancy pieced back, but really like how this simple solid accents my quilting.
I did some simple line machine quilting, using grey on the back and colors that coordinated with the fabric on top. I popped on the binding (by machine) and hand stitched it here and there with Perle 8 thread in contrasting colors until I felt it was "done." Love the randomness, and how the hand stitching pops against the solid back.

I love it. It was stress free, simple, and as far as I am concerned, looks fantastic. Been so overwhelmed with all that is life lately, this was a much needed escape.

I was feeling guilty about my unfinished vintage sheet quilt, and also that I hadn't started the promised birthday quilt for The Middle Child (her birthday is this weekend) but I will get to those, eventually. Had to take time to remember that quilting is supposed to be FUN, right??

Bring on the next project!

Rainy Days and Mondays quilt complete

Welcome, visitors from Blogger's Quilt Festival! Thanks for stopping by :-) Today I am going to share my latest finished quilt, which I am calling "Singing in the Rain."

It has had several other names during its construction, like "Stupid D#*m Thing" and "IhateyouIhateyou," but, Singing in the Rain it will be!

I started this one a couple months ago, as a birthday present for my 4 year old daughter. She has an April birthday, so, as "April showers bring May flowers," I thought this would be the perfect fabric for her special twin sized quilt. I designed it myself, inspired by one of the fabrics of the line. I wanted it to look like random, swirling, dancing umbrella tops!
It has definitely been the most time consuming quilt that I have made in my {relatively} short quilting career. Not so much difficult as tedious...each umbrella top you see here involved the following:
cut, sew, cut, press, square, sew, press, square, cut, sew, press, square, cut, press, applique. Times 48.

Anyhoo, at that point I was going to name the quilt "The Hangover," you know, for that spinning feeling you get right before you vomit...with all those twirling colors I was seriously doubting how this thing would not come out looking like a dog's breakfast. Thank goodness for white sashing, that tempered it quite a bit! So after another marathon of cut/sew/press etc to add the sashing, I finally had a quilt top! And...I liked it {phew!}.

I had promised myself, this time, to do a SIMPLE BACK. If you click on the icons on the left sidebar of my blog and peruse my finished quilts from this year and last, you will see that I tend to make "reversible" quilts, with the backs more intricate and often preferred to the fronts! Anyways, I did tone it down a bit but couldn't resist adding a couple really special features to this quilt back.
All the details have meaning. First off- a strip of orange, my daughter's favorite color. Within the strip, I added some "raindrop" blocks- four, in honor of her fourth birthday. I used the final raindrop as a label, and included this special message:
Happy 4th birthday, L-! I wish you a life full of sunshine, but if a little rain should fall, I will always be your umbrella. All my love always, Mom (date, place).

In one of the blocks I included and image of her kitty, which is her very special stuffed toy she has had since a baby (more on that here), floating off with an umbrella. I have to say the kitty thing really did not go well. I had the bright idea to print using my printer directly on the fabric...thought it would work as it was permanent ink, and even sent a sample through the wash to test it before piecing one into the quilt. Then, when all was said and done and I put the quilt through the wash...well, kitty's image basically faded away. Ugh! So, I used transfer paper to add the image to a scrap of white fabric and quickly hand stitched it on top, TERRIBLY, but will need to replace that at some point as well as I don't find those transfers to be super durable. Maybe will send something off to Spoonflower to try and fix? Not. Happy. I was really disappointed in this, as it was to be that special personal addition for my baby girl. At the moment, she adores it how it is and is none the wiser, but my mind continues to whirl about how to fix this little blip.

But, all that aside, the quilt has already been lovingly adopted by my daughter and, much like childbirth, memories of what hassles may have occurred during the process are already starting to fade, and I am eager to jump in and start a new one :-) I am actually also planning to make a pattern for this one and some of my other designs that I am often asked about- this is something I will work on over the coming months. I think this quilt would be fun in rainbow solids, don't you?

Here are some quilt stats for you:

Finished size: twin (84 inches by 64 inches)
Fabrics: Rainy Days and Mondays by Riley Blake, with some from my stash by Amy Butler, Urban Chicks, Barbara Jones, etc and solids from local quilt shop.
Design: by me
Quilting: stippling by me, by machine
Binding: Green dot from Rainy Days, attached by machine to front and hand stitched to back

A pretty little quilt

NOTE: Alison is hosting a quilt giveaway to support Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims. To learn more and to help, go here.

Just finished off this little lovely, for the baby girl of a friend, due this summer.

I used a charm pack of Moda Plume included as a bonus treat in an "ugly scrap" giveaway by one of my very favorite bloggy friends, Alison. I sewed them up into some HST and put them back together randomly. I love how this bright fabric looks so cheery against the crisp white- very easy to make this fabric look good. I will have to get a BIT more creative when using some of the other interesting scraps that came along with ;)
I really like how the quilting came out- lines on either side of the diagonals, then a single line to bisect the triangles perpendicular to this. It has been awhile since I have done some straight line quilting... though "straight" may be a liberal description! It looks extra wonky in these pictures as it has been washed!

For the back, I used a bold pink along with a few pinwheels made from extra HSTs. I love the grid pattern the quilting makes against the solids.

I am especially proud of my basting skills- check out how perfectly parallel these lines run along the pinwheels! Whoot whoot! I will actually be giving my 2 cents on basting for the Quilt Class 101 on Bec's blog later this month (so this was good to boost my confidence ;)
For binding, I framed it with a chocolate brown solid. I took another go at Red Pepper Quilt's machine binding tutorial....not perfect, but not bad. Not sure why but I feel compelled to master both hand and machine binding. I'm weird like that.


This is my first baby quilt this year, and it was refreshing to enjoy a smaller project! I am hoping it will provide a cheery place to play and cuddle. Here are some of the quilt stats for you:

finished quilt size: 25.5 " by 32.5"
fabrics: Moda Plume, white, pink, chocolate and tan from local quilt shop
quilting: straight lines, by machine
binding: by machine

Linking up at Canoe Ridge Creations.

My new favorite quilt: Postage stamp complete!

My postage stamp quilt from Rachel's quilt along is all done. I hereby crown it my new favorite!


You can read about the quilt top here and here. I used a Hello Betty jelly roll (original plan was Bliss, but I changed my mind once spying Katie's HB!) paired with strips of linen. I love the combination! And the linen continues to soften with handling and washing. Such a nice texture.

My one hesitation for the quilt along was that my quilt would be like everyone else's. To combat that, I decided that I would spend the time to make an original pieced back:

I had made my quilt top slightly smaller than specified, leaving me with some extra strips to play with. I decided to do something a little more modern on the back, to coordinate but contrast a bit with the very traditional postage stamp style. What would you call this? A lattice? Anyways, I love how it pops against the espresso brown solid! The espresso is also a great backdrop for some good old Canadian snowflakes, as you can see in the photo...they were falling faster than I could wipe them away!
I threw in one square of yellow polka dots, to pick up the subtle yellows in the Hello Betty fabric. Brightens things up!

Quilting. I had originally planned to do diagonal machine quilting. But here's the thing- I knew this would lead to frustration as (a) many of my corners don't match up perfectly and (b) with the diagonal strip pattern on the back, it would likely not be perfectly parallel, which would drive me bonkers. So I kept putting off the quilting. Then, one afternoon, as I was waiting in line at Starbucks (Tall nonfat Tazo Chai Latte with cinnamon), it hit me- how cool would some hand quilting look against the brown? I had 5 minutes, grabbed my tea, sat down and whipped out my trusty "Idea Notebook" with graph paper, and concurrently sketched out a bunch of random boxes and scarfed down a ginger molasses cookie :-) I didn't modify that 5 minute sketch one iota....that is exactly what you see here!
I used Perle 8 thread, in white and yellow- just picked a color randomly for each square. While crappy machine quilting drives me batty, I actually love inconsistencies in hand quilting-gives it all the more the homey feel. So mine is VERY homey ;) It took a while...probably about 20 hours in total over a couple weeks, but well worth it. I absolutely love how all those random squares pop against the back.


To cap it all off, I had the perfect binding on hand- some of my Riley Blake Wheels stash. These teal blue circles were an exact match to the Hello Betty. Happy, bright, perfect.

So to sum it up, here are some quilt stats:

Fabrics: Moda Hello Betty jelly roll, linen, espresso solid from LQS, yellow dot from stash
Finished size: approx 60 inches by 70 inches
Design: Quilt along at p.s. I quilt, back designed by me
Quilted by me, exclusively by hand, using Perle 8 thread in white and yellow
Binding: Riley Blake Wheels line, by hand
Keeping it real: linen was hard to cut in *straight* strips, so some variable size I am sure and a few corners that don't match up....here is a particularly bad example:

That said, considering that I put together the top in just 2 days, I was surprised how many or the corners were bang on:

All in all, I love how this quilt finished up, and it has been happily accepted into our little "quilt family" :-)


Linking up at Sew Modern Monday and Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory:-)