Done

Just a short post to update on the work of the Champagne Quilters.

The big quilt is off the frame.

Marg decided to call it Lucky Stars. She was so glad when we put the final stitches in a week ago. No blood spots were found on the backing so that's a good thing. The backing fabric is a beige print that Marg found on sale at Fabricland.

We trimmed it last Wednesday and cut the binding for it. Ann does that job since she doesn't mind it. 

We are now working on making a small quilt into a single bed size. I'll show it to you if I remember to bring my camera.

Baby quilt #1

This is what's on the frame at the moment.

A Care Bear panel. I have had it in my stash for quite a few years now and my daughter-in-law, Kate, claimed it way back when. She has a collection of Care Bears. Kate and my son Mark are expecting twins in October and the other quilt panel that has been chosen is totally different but equally nice.

This is the flannel backing I used. The future parents don't want to know if the babies are boys or girls so it will be a surprise to everyone when they arrive. Needless to say, both sides of the family are very happy and excited.

I have been itching to knit some baby hats so I think I'll make a bunch so that there's a variety. With all the free patterns on the internet, I don't think I'll get bored. I'm sure that there is a hospital out there that could use some and I've got a lot of yarn to use up.

 Instant gratification. This just took an evening to complete and that's just because I had to find my double pointed needles and I have a kitty that just loves to claim my lap whenever I sit down.

  I can't remember if I had made the pattern before but I suppose I have. This first one turned out a bit stiff.

 The one on the right is the first one I made with 3.75 mm needles and the one on the left is exactly the same pattern with the same number of stitches but with number 5mm needles. I have no idea where the pink yarn came from but it was something that caught my eye when I went looking in the stash.

I'm linking up with The Needle and Thread Network and Esther's blog this week.

BOM update

While I have been busy with other things, I did manage to do a bit of catching up on a couple of blocks of the month.

This is just half of the May installment for Cathy's Carousel. The other half has not yet been started.

 For the Quilt Doodle BOM, it's another tree. This block is thinner than the first tree - only 14", not 16" as the previous big blocks.

Have a great, safe week ahead.

Silk and sows

This year I decided to take part in one of my guild's president's challenge. Here's what the rules were:

"The theme is “Making a Silk Purse Out of a Sow’s

Ear”. We will provide packages of 8 to 10 charm squares

of less-than-gorgeous material and you are invited to

incorporate them all in a quilted project (e.g. wall

hanging, wearable or other) of no more than 80 inches 
in perimeter. You are challenged to produce something 
lovely from materials that would easily be considered less-than-
lovely. The projects will be presented at the May 2014

Annual General Meeting where we will vote for a “Viewer’s

Choice” winner. So, let your imaginations soar and let’s

see what “silk purses” we can come up with!"

 Originally, I was just going to make the challenge piece a pieced quilt. I got lucky because one of the charm squares I was given had two full cardinals that I could cut out and applique.

 This is the quilt that I ended up making. It turned out much nicer than it started out. The dark green tree trunk and branches just happened to be a scrap of fabric that was sitting on my cutting table when I was laying out the blocks.

The finished piece - The Cardinals, measures 13" X 17," well within the 80" perimeter stated in the rules and it was machine pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted.

Now, I'm linking up with The Needle and Thread Network and with Esther's WOW (Works in Progress Wednesday). Pop on over to see what other people are up to this week.

Miscellaneous Stuff

"The 24th of May is the Queen's birthday and if you don't give us a holiday we'll run away and play." That's the little poem my dad taught me when I was little. It was something he learned as a little boy. Today is Victoria Day or, otherwise known as Firecracker Day. It's a holiday Monday and there are fireworks displays in a few places tonight at sundown. It's usually a coldish day and even though it may be 60F or 20C, it still feels cool outside. There is no sun right now and it may rain. Typical.

Prince Charles and Lady Camilla are visiting Canada (the Maritimes) for four days. Pop on over to Karen's blog to see photos.

Otherwise, I have been busy with odds and ends.

This is Midnight...

and this is Ben. They belong to my son Mark and his wife. They went away for the weekend and entrusted their care to me and my husband. We went over to feed them and to cuddle for a bit.

This was the sky earlier in the week. 

 It should have been April showers but it appears as if we are having May showers.

The backyard is greening up. I love my forsythia and my tulips but the squirrels seem to like my tulips too.

Here she is, my little Pixel with her yearly lion cut. Some people really get freaked out by it and others think it's cute.

I finished the challenge quilt I was working on. Here it is basted in preparation for hand quilting.

Here's another part of it. I'll show you the whole thing in a couple of days. It turned out quite different from how it started out in my head.

I'm working on baby things too but since it is supposed to be a secret, I can't show you. All in good time...

Just a few photos of some flowers I got for Mother's Day last weekend.

These were from my son Mark and his wife Kate.

I love the colours.

I love the variety too.

These were from my other son, Eric.

And this one lone white carnation I received when I went to the bank on Friday. 

I just happened to have my camera with me today.

These are the window displays at the Bata Shoe Museum. Colourful and very quilt-like.

Have a great week. I'm going to see what sewing I can accomplish today.

Off and on

Look what finally came off the frame.

Ayla's quilt is done and off the frame.

There's still the binding to do and the label to put on.

This is one corner of a baby panel that will be going on the frame.

It needs to be ironed. Once it's up, I'll show you the whole thing.

Have a great day.
I'm linking up with Linky Tuesday and The Needle and Thread Network.

Today

Happy Mother's Day!

 

Wellington Museum and Archives

This past weekend my daughter Maili and I went to the Welllington Museum and Archives. It's about an hour and a half outside the city (when there aren't any road closures) and I wanted to see two quilt exhibits. One was the Connections Fibre Artists who pay tribute to the Group of Seven. The other was quilter Renske Helmuth. At the time we were there the 2014 Aboriginal Heritage Festival was taking place too. The First Nations dancers put on a show in the same room as the fibre art display and so it was difficult to view all of the pieces up close. We did see most of them but I didn't take any photos. Down the hall was Renske Helmuth's quilts. Here are just some of them.

I loved the setting and all the flowers.

There were many small quilts.

This was a study for a bigger quilt.

Click on the photos to see them bigger.

Maili liked the border detail and the way that it makes them look like they are actually framed with a mat.

Stunning work, all hand appliqued.

Isn't he cute?

Just a few close-ups.

Hand quilted by others.

See the snail?

Just beautiful work.

Storks with Japanese sashiko stitching.

Very precise and quilted following the lines and applique.

Piping detail for the border.

Black is not easy to quilt.

Each of the unprinted blocks is a sashiko sampler.

The applique is on a piece of lace.

I love the fabric she used for the pot.

I just love the scroll work framing the centre.

That's it, that's all. I ran out of memory on my camera card. 

Have a great weekend and I hope you get to see or do something creative.