Patchwork Fields

This is Robin's Patchwork Fields quilt.  She doesn't have the quilt back quite yet, but she wanted me to post pictures so she could see it.  I am lucky to say that I have Kathy from Tamarack Shack visiting for a few days.  Kathy is an amazing quilt photographer, and we used Robin's quilt for my first photography lesson.

Robin said that she didn't really like this quilt when she first started piecing it, but in time it grew on her.  I think it looks pretty good in my living room!

I used the Trellis Vine panto with So Fine thread and Quilter's Dream Blend Batting.

Sorry for the delay with the pictures Robin!  I really enjoyed my lesson and taking lots of pictures of your beautiful quilt.

Mad Scientists at work

I am very lucky to have my good friend Kathy here for a couple of days. Here we are starting the first of our fabric dyeing experiments. Kathy measures, I mix. And a peek and the first bunch of fabrics. (This is the first time I am posting from my iPhone so we will see how it goes!)

Turning Twenty

This is Sandra's Turning Twenty quilt.

 She adapted the pattern to fit the fabric collection she had.   We used Quilter's Dream Blend batting, a mix of cotton and So Fine! thread.  Sandra requested the Plush panto in the center with a custom border.

 She had a lovely robin's egg blue flannel for the back to make it extra cozy.

I am striving to take better and more interesting pictures as I go along.  I am finding that much more difficult than I would have thought!  As always I wish you could see the fabrics up close as i don't think these pictures as doing them any justice.  So much to learn, so little time!

Tic Tak Deco

I finished piecing my Tic Tak Deco top.

The pattern is well written and it went together really quickly and easily.  I think it looks much more impressive than the effort I had to put into it - always a good thing!

Here is a little peek into how those curves are sewn.  When you first get the curved pieces together they look quite wonky and you are a little unsure of how it will all turn out.  The cool thing is that the ruler is designed for trimming up your blocks as well as cutting them out initially.

I'm not exactly sure when Helen with have the pattern ready for purchase, but you can check out her blog here.  Or find the ruler here.

I haven't decided if I will add a border or not.  Might just live with it a while before I make that decision.

I also took some time to make something just for me.  My friend Stacey and I decided to give yoga a try for the first time this fall.  It was suggested that we may want to bring out own mats, so I decided to make myself a bag using this free pattern.  I cut into one of my favorite snow-dyes (it was only a little hard).  It was really hard to capture the texture of the fabric in the photos.  It really isn't as white as it appears.  I love how the bag matches the color of the mat!

Dyeing Success

I am happy to report that after 4 rounds in the dyeing room, I finally came up with a fabric palette that I am happy with.  (I also have a number of yards of fabric that will have to find a home in other projects!)

The top picture is a much better representation of the true colors than these following two.  I think that the wheat color above is much better than the too peachy and too yellow below.

I volunteered to be a pattern tester for Helen over at HGMR Deco Quilting.  She is developing a line of patterns to use with the Jenny's Quick Curve Ruler from Sew Kind of Wonderful.

The ruler has a curved slot that fits your regular rotary cutter and lots of reference lines to make it super easy to use.

Step 1 was to cut out some squares and rectangles.

Then using those rectangles and the Quick Curve Ruler, it starts getting interesting.

Cut the arc once.

Move the ruler and cut the arc a second time.

 Voila!

The quilt I am making finishes at 54 x 54.  It took me about 45 minutes to cut everything out and that included the time it took me to press the fabrics.

And a little tease of where this is going!

I am excited to see how this goes together!

Wild Flowers!

This is the latest quilt to make it off my machine.  It is definitely bold and wild. Not my normal taste, but I put a panel and 6 fat quarters to good use.  Backing is one of my hand dyes.   I used my Wildflowers panto and Quilters Dream Puff Batting.  It was very nice to use up all the little bits of leftover fabric into a scrappy binding.

I have been busy dyeing and over dyeing some fabrics trying to get just the right combination of color for a pattern I volunteered to test for another blogger.  I love the two batiks I pulled from my stash, and finally have the right burgundy to go with it.  The right yellow is still eluding me.  One too peachy, one too bright.  Sometimes dyeing goes exactly like you expect and sometimes it just feels like a big guessing game.  Back to the dyeing room for round 4.

Hello September!

I can't believe it has been over a month since I posted anything here!  What have I been doing over the last month or so??

We did take a wonderful holiday back to Flin Flon. We had lots of time to do some geocaching, fishing, tubing, relaxing and visiting.   I got to see many of my quilting friends at a lovely gathering hosted by my wonderful friend Kathy.  Here we are.  Kathy also surprised me with this pantograph as a gift. I love it, and have to find just the right quilt for it!

I was caught up on my Just Takes 2 blocks before we left on our trip.  Now I am two sets behind again!

I had to totally disassemble my quilting/sewing room to allow for some ceiling demolition before the installation of a new furnace and air conditioner, so I didn't really get a whole lot of quilting done myself, but my two quilting apprentices were busy getting things finished before school started.

Kyla quilted her "Uptown Girl" quilt with the "Dainty" Pantograph.  I think she did a pretty great job.

 

We dyed the turquoise fabric for the back as well.  She used Quilter's Dream Puff batting.  It is really light and has great loft.  I had never tried this batting before, and I am very pleased with the results.

 

Kendra's "Bella" quilt got the Daisy Bounce Panto.

It was a little fiddly working around the applique, but worth it in the end.  She chose a green color for us to dye her backing.  We dyed a white-on-white wide fabric and it turned out very pretty.  She also chose the Dream Puff batting.  She is pleased with the results.

Now to teach them how to do bindings.  Hopefully they enjoy that job more than their mother does!