Arcadia

This lovely quilt was brought to me by Vanda.    The pattern is called Arcadia by Mountainpeek Creations and she used lovely, rich Asian fabrics.

We decided on the "Ginseng" pantograph and my favorite gold Magnifico thread.  Vanda provided a light cotton/silk blend batting.

A little surprise for the backing when you want a change of pace - two quilts in one!

 

Quilted Piano Bench Cover

 This is a project that I completed a little while ago for a challenge at my local quilt guild.  We were given three  black and white fat quarters and a crayola marker.  We could add as many black and white fabrics to the ones we were given, but only one fabric the color of the marker.  My marker was black, which I learned was wild so I could add any color I liked.  I chose red.

When I saw the black and white I immediately knew that I wanted to do something music themed.  I had a lot of help along the way.  I had an idea of what I wanted this to look like and my wonderful husband drew the keyboard and swoop out to scale for me.  My friend Eileen picked up music themed fabric for me during her travels.

The white keys are just pieced strips, but for the black keys I knew I didn't want raw edges as this piece would be sat on.   I used my 3/8" bias tape maker to create turned under edges and zig-zagged them down with invisible thread.  The treble clef is fused down raw edge applique.  I did a dense satin stitch to protect the edges.

My girls wanted the notes to be an actual song, not just random notes the looked visually appealing.  They also wanted it to be a "Daddy" song - one that would be blasted through the house when doing dishes or on a long road trip.  I was fine with this as long as I didn't have to decide.  Kyla drew out the melody and I thread painted the notes in at the end of the quilting.  (Any music readers able to figure it out?)

I used two layers of batting to give it extra loft - one Quilter's Dream Blend and one Quilter's Dream Puff.  I am really pleased with the end result, but I was thankful I left it extra big before quilting as it shrunk up more than I was expecting!

I added three sets of ties to attach it to the piano bench.

I didn't win the challenge, but I am very pleased with the end product.  If you are interested in checking out what my other guild members did, check it out on the Crocus Quilter's Guild Blog.

Bears & Blocks

This cute baby quilt was made by Eileen.  It is generous size and will last into toddler-hood and beyond.  The pattern is called Tumbling Blocks by It's Sew Emma.  Eileen requested the "Gummy Bears" panto and I think it was the perfect choice to go along with the bear printed fabric in the blocks.

We decided on a white Magnifico thread and Dream puff batting which shows off the quilting really nicely.

And check out the adorable backing fabric - more bears - super cute!

Eileen does not yet know if the recipient is a boy or a girl, but will add either a blue or pink binding to finish it off when she hears the news.  I think this is a great gender neutral quilt, which isn't always easy to do.  Great job Eileen!

New Normal

It is hard to believe that is been about a month since I have found the time to post something on this blog.  I have been busy, but not with a lot of blog-worthy happenings. The quilt you see below is one I am making for my oldest daughter Kyla and it has been on the longarm since before Easter! Everything else seems to have taken priority, but I am hoping to get it finished this weekend.

 One big change in my world is that I have taken on a part time job outside of my quilting studio.  I am working in the office at our local funeral home two days per week. I have been at that for a little over a month, and I think it will be a great fit, but I am searching to find my "new normal".  Two days outside the studio should leave me plenty of time with three days plus weekends and evenings at home, but it just hasn't felt that way lately.   

The one project that I have been busy working on is the Taras Shevchenko 200 Celebration piece with the Ukrainian Immersion students in Dauphin.  All 91 blocks have been coloured, heat set and pieced together.  Ready to hit the longarm!

The students did some really neat things and I have been enjoying seeing this one some together.  The deadline is looming so I have to keep up the forward momentum...

Scraps Squared!

This fantastic scrap quilt belongs to Patrice. It is a biggie and the front and the back use a wide variety of fabrics. The quilt has a great story too.

Patrice shared that this quilt was started 10+ years ago.  She and her daughter saw the idea on TV and her daughter wanted one just like it. Her daughter loved the idea of random colors in each block, but Patrice confessed that she suffers from "matchy-itis" and thought she would have a breakdown trying to follow that path, so most blocks have a theme.

Patrice used fabric leftovers from clothes she sewed for her daughters and herself as well as some quilting scraps from her sister.  There was cotton, linen, slippery things, denim and corduroy.  Her daughter has no idea that she pulled the project out and finished it, so it should be a wonderful surprise.

Patrice had a vision for the quilting and sifted through the hundreds of pantograph options available on one of my favorite sites - Urban Elementz.  She chose "Bauhaus Baby" and I was happy to add it to my collection.  It has a nice modern feel and is very different than anything I have used in the past.

Bauhaus Baby

And when ordering a new panto, I can't stop at just one, so here are the other new pantos in my collection:

Breath of the gods

Bayside

Ebb & Flow

Falling Leaves

Dazzle

The block of the month project belongs to Deanna.  She told me it was 17 years old - she knows as she remembers working on this when her now 17 year old son was a baby.  I love being able to help quilters get their projects out of the cupboard and completed.

Deanna prefers less dense quilting, so we decided on the "Dazzle" panto with Dream Puff batting.

Deanna wanted to use of fabric she had on hand so provided muslin for the backing.  I prefer to match my bobbin thread to the quilt back instead of using the same color as the top thread.  I was hoping that I would be able to get the tension just right to balance the charcoal thread on the top and the light cream on the back.  

 My Innova did not let me down! Beautiful tension giving the calm look I was hoping for on the back and allowing the texture of the panto to shine through.  It was a happy quilting day for sure!

Bev's Batik HST Quilt

This is Bev's stunning batik quilt.  It is made up of HST and no, there isn't a commercial pattern. Bev played around with the blocks to come up with this striking layout.  Again, I am impressed with the power of a HST!

We chose the Mimosa panto, Dream Blend Batting and a variegated Lava thread.

 I wish you all could have seen this one in person as the fabrics are just gorgeous, my pictures are not doing it justice!