Friday, 13 June 2014

I've got a Friday Finish


 

 
    I'm excited to share that I have a Friday Finish!

   The last stiches were worked on the binding  on Wednesday night, and we took the photos Thursday night while there was still some light.

The pattern is Pow Wow from Cluck Cluck Sew. Most of the fabric  was from my stash.  I love how colourful it is. Some of the fabrics are favourites and I am happy that the quilt is going to someone  I love who I know will really love the quilt. 







 



 
     In this picture you can see my beginner free motion quilting.  This is the biggest quilt I've tried free motion quilting on so far.   Im pretty happy with my progress although before I start fmq I always think I'll be able to do a better job than I actually able to.

   My sewing machine is a lower to mid range Janome and doesn't have many bells and whistles.  Sometimes I wish I had a better machine and I think I would be so much better at fmq if I did have  one.  It's not in the budget though and in all honesty I think I just have to put in the work and practice practice practice.

    


   I'm liking the pink strip on the back here.  So much more interesting than one fabric throughout.

     This happy little quilt and I are taking a little trip in to Toronto today.  We are  going to the Royal Ontario Museum with my daughter and my Aunt.  I'll be delivering the quilt to its recipient after that. She's been waiting for me to finish it for so long that she's given up hope.

     Tomorrow I'm going to Quilt Canada with two of my quilting buddies.   It will be our first time going to Quilt Canada. I'm very excited!

  This is my second finish for the 2nd Quarter Finish Along.  Linking up to TGIFF at Riddle and Whimsy and to Finish it up Friday at.Crazy Mom Quilts and here's my link to the original FAL post.

Sunday, 1 June 2014

Slow Stitching Sunday: Here's My Sampler and My Week Ahead

    I'll be doing a lot of hand stitching this week.  My machine is at the spa (as Kathy likes to call it ) having a routine check up.  We were having some tension issues at a workshop a few weeks back so I booked her into for her week of rejuvenation.  Before I took her in I managed to complete the top of the wedding gift I've been working on.  I have determined that no one receiving this gift will look at the blog until they receive it so I get to show you a picture.  I know it seems insane to think that my son would be looking at the blog but you never know l.o.l.!
   
     It's a wall hanging to hang above their bed.  Their colour scheme is all browns and blues and I borrowed a pillow sham in order to choose my colours.  It's done with raw edged applique with a zig zag stitch.

     My friend Wilma has loaned me a tubular quilting frame that I would like to use when quilting this.  So I have another question for you.  Does the quilt have to be snapped in on all 4 sides.? If so can I attach extra fabric to the backing to do that?

   

     Two weeks ago I shared a picture of my hand quilting sampler.  Here it is all finished.


     The stitching is fairly inconsistent but I'm happy to say that the best stitches are the latest ones.  So I guess I've picked up something over the years.  You can see where I carried the thread under the surface between the two circles so that is something I would be careful of in a project but I'm not concerned with the sample.  I really enjoyed working on this and I can see how it could become addictive.  Thanks for all your advice two weeks ago and for your inspiration every Sunday. I feel confident that I can do a reasonable job on the wall hanging.

     Before taking the machine to the shop, I also managed to sew the binding on to this quilt.   So I'll be working on hand stitching the binding down as well.  Note my beginner free motion stitches.  I've mostly done straight stitching up till now.  I'm working on improving my free motion quilting and my hand quilting at the same time!


Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's blog.

Small Blog Meet

        Last month I really enjoyed reading Anne's post at anniemacoriginal.com  so I decided  I would write a similar introductory post.     I live in southern Ontario in Canada and I know lots of quilters  who I met through my local guild.   Most quilters I know work on traditional  and/or contemporary quilts or art quilts with lots of embellishment.  I've been quilting a bit here and there as a hobby for close to 10 years.  I've made traditional and contemporary quilts  but I also have a keen interest in Modern quilts.  I love checking out what other quilters are doing on the internet.

            (Quilt I made for my grandniece Isla. She and her family  live in cottage country so I thought they would like the canoe, fish and bear fabric. My simple design)
    
      I started writing the blog in February of this year. I'm not completely sure I know why.  It's not like I need to keep myself busy .  I work full time and I'm busy with many small quilting groups and a  book club.  I have a hard time squeezing in exercise which I really need to do.  I think like many others who blog I like to reflect on what I'm doing and I like to write.

( Little Man Quilt Camille Roskelley design)
 
          Both of my kid's have grown up and left home. The youngest completely moved out just this year so I suppose the blog fills a space that the kids used to fill up.  Blogging lets me focus on myself and something which I care about.  It gives me a new hobby and I get to learn new skills.   I'm following the beautify your blog posts at Sew at Home Mummy so expect to see some improvements here in time.  



 (Houses Quilt, Pattern by Johanna Masko )

    The best thing about blogging is that I get to have conversations with quilters all over the world.  To see what they are doing , to pick up tips advice and ideas.  It's also a good way to set some goals and keep track of my progress.   I find that I'm getting more quilting done than I used to, since I started this blog just 4 months ago.

( Park Bench Quilt Along  Block from JayBird Quilts

         I'm looking forward to getting to know some of the other small bloggers through these posts at the Small Blog meet at lilysquilts