Finishes

I fell in love with biscornus when I saw one on someone's blog. I searched for instructions and patterns and this is what I came up with. They really are not hard to do - just time-consuming. I have seen some done in just fabric, sewn together but I think the cross-stitched ones are so pretty.



I used instructions found here: http://own-two-hands.livejournal.com/4186.html Before I put it all together, I decided to add a piece of complimentary-coloured cotton fabric to the back of each side of the biscornu design to make it sturdier and so that the batting didn't come through. Since completing this one I have plans to make more. There are some really nice free patterns out there.

Kawartha Quiltmakers Guild quilt show (part 2)

I loved the whole show. There may not have been as many quilts exhibited as in some of the other quilt shows I have gone to lately but there were more hand quilted quilts to view. The variety of patterns was nice to see too. No two were the same.

It's amazing to think that you don't really need to do a lot of piecing to get a stunning quilt. Just let the fabric do the work for you. It would be a great quilt for a beginner to tackle.

Little dresden plates below. Once again, hand quilted. I know I do go on about hand quilting but it is becoming a rarity.

See the close-up of this appliqued quilt. Beautiful work.

I just love hand quilting and had to take a close-up for you to see all the little tulips in the border.

This quilt below, was just stunning. All hand pieced and hand quilted!!! (see the description which follows)

I just loved the blue fabric in this houses quilt. Everything came from the quilter's stash except the blue. Once again, hand quilted - by a church group if memory serves.

This plaid quilt was striking in its pattern and colour. I don't think I have ever seen one of these done before.

Finishes and goodies

Here's blocks 3 and 4 in my BOM with Thangles. The fat quarter in the foreground is the only vendor purchase from my weekend quilt show. I needed something that went very close with the green in the block. I opted not to do the connector part of the BOM since I don't want my quilt to look like everyone else's. Now I see I need some of that mauve in the last block. My mauves just aren't doing it.

The Brampton Guild had their own sale of stuff and I bought a pkg of scraps for $2. Two of the pieces are fat quarters and the other one is close.I didn't need any patterns since my drawers are full but the prices of these got to me. The poinsettia freezer paper was $2 (I have done one before and now I want to make one for my mom), the Hallowe'en cross stitch was $1 and the raggedy doll pattern was $ .50. I'm not really that taken with Hallowe'en but my family is and so I figured if I got this done, one of them would get it. Also, I could just use the house on its own in something. There was a whole, unopened cross stitch kit selling for $2 which was an extraordinary find and was in my hands but I left it for someone else to find - wasn't that nice of me. The subject matter was the seaside and I didn't think I would end up doing it.

Bloggers Quilt Festival

I've now entered a quilt show, this virtual one. Thank you to Amy for organizing this! Click on the button to the right and see more quilts in this virtual show.
I have two favourite quilts but I will show this one since I already showed the other one. I made this for a quilt guild challenge in April 1990.


We were given three fabrics: the tone on tone that I used for the flesh; the blue print that I used as the necklace and for some of the flowers; and another print that I cut a motif out of to use as the snake and some of the pink flowers. The fabrics had to be visible on the quilt top. We could use our own fabrics but I can't remember how many. I used black, brown, white and the blue for the water. The finished dimension had to be less than 120 inches in circumference and I do believe the comment that went with the
instructions was something to the effect of being creative. What I did was to take two tape measures and lay them out on the floor in the rough outline of what I had in mind. This was after poring over loads of quilt magazines and my Southwest Art and Art of the West magazines. I knew I wanted to do something that had a native theme. I also wanted something unique. I came up with "Mother Earth and the Great Spirit." Mother Earth's hair flows into the the eagle's wing. It was loads of fun trying to capture what I wanted. It has applique, reverse applique, embroidery and I even used white-out with its brush for the loon's necklace and spots on the back. I think I have to re-apply the necklace. The horse is looking back at its owner who has died (the shroud - up on sticks, so that animals don't get to the body.) I populated it with animals that my friends and children liked. All free-hand drawn, cut and appliqued or embroidered. It is by no means perfect but I do love it. I have recently taken it off the wall since the sun from the skylight is fading it. I didn't and still don't really work in prints. That's why I cut the prints up and used the motifs in them.
There were other quilts that were not the usual square or rectangle. Other people were just as creative with the fabrics and the instructions - one was even a 3-D mobile piece of art.
The guild challenge quilt that won was an appliqued quilt that was square. So much for creativity. Personal comments from several of the guild members later was that the judges were quite staid and old-fashioned - as were a lot of the members.

Niagara Falls and finishes

As I was nodding off to sleep, I was thinking of my new header photo. It brought the Three Stooges to mind. If you remember them, then perhaps you may remember "Niagara Falls...Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch...."
So, I decided to see if there was a youtube on it and here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yJBhzMWJCc

I liked Curly best of all - the original one that's in this clip.
I wonder if Niagara Falls is still the Honeymoon Capital of the World???

On a different note, little one (youngest child, youngest daughter) just found out that she passed her real estate exam. I guess she is now officially a real estate agent. It was a trying time for her since it took her forever to get through (pass) with part two (there's three parts to being a bona fide real estate agent.)
Daughter-in-law finished her masters program last Friday and so she can officially read for pleasure now. (It's a good feeling - honest, been there, done that last year.)