My Green Strings

Finally I got around to making a strip pieced border from the leftover strings for my green string quilt that I made earlier this year as part of String Challenge I really like how it turned out and I used up a lot of strips but still have a toteful left for other projects.

Blog Post #100!!

100 posts in 2 1/2 years...is that a lot, not much or pretty average?



Here's what I am working on now. It is a table runner for my sister Betty in Malaysia. I made it from the scraps leftover from a quilt I made from an 18 pc fat quarter pack of Dutch fabrics that she brought me home a few years ago when she used to live in Holland. My younger sister Marianne (who lives 10 minutes away from me) is going to visit Betty in 2 weeks and will be taking the table runner plus other items along with her own luggage so I have to keep whatever I am sending compact and light. I intended to machine quilt it but decided to send it just as a top in order to reduce the bulk and she can quilt it herself. She wont mind doing that, she is a very good machine quilter. I will be adding an additional 2 inch border in the white. Her table is large..3 ft x 8 ft. The table runner measures 87 x 19.5 inches

Quilt-Along

I just signed up to do a Quilt-Along at http://afewscraps.blogspot.com/2010/08/quilt-along-and-giveaway.html I hope to learn some new FMQ strategies because I cant seem to stop making spirals!! And she is having a giveaway. Check it out.

My Maritime Beauty

Here's a pic of "My Maritime Beauty" a design by Karen Neary. http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/sewkaren/patterns.htm

Check out Karen's website. Karen is a Nova Scotia quilt designer from Amherst. She has designed some awesome patterns. This is my second one and I plan on doing a few more. The pattern instructions are very thorough and I really enjoyed the sewing. This one will adorn my kitchen table.

Fibre Arts Festival Block Challenge

Here's the block I am submitting for the Block Challenge at Dayle's Department Store in Amherst. You pay 1.99 for a fat quarter of the background fabric and you can make whatever block you like as long as the background fabric is out to the edges. That's the way it was explained to me. I have some left so I could enter two blocks if I want.

Hooked Rugs by Mike and Clarissa

Here's a pic of just some of the rugs hooked by my Aunt Clarissa and Uncle Mike of Prospect, Nova Scotia. I had a chance today to see them all displayed. They are absolutely beautiful. I believe some are for sale. Most are depicting scenes from Prospect. I may be a bit partial, but, Prospect is one of the hidden gems of Nova Scotia.

Drunkard's Path Quilt

Here's a pic of my cousin Michele and my aunt Clarissa holding the Drunkard's Path Quilt I made for Clarissa and Uncle Mike. It is handquilted. Michele is visiting from Alberta and it was nice to visit with her while she was home. It was a beautiful day on the Back Beach and we saw many sailboats and yachts travelling back and forth.

Jelly Roll Quilt

Here's a pic of a quilt top I made last week while my BQFF was visiting. I used a Moda Boutique jelly roll along with some tone on tone white fabric. The pattern is from the book "Jelly Roll Quilts" It is much prettier in person. Did not photograph well.
It was fun to make. I plan to do some FMQ to complete this one.

What Keeps Me Up at Night

Black Hole Quilt

The only thing that keeps me up at night is worrying about my kids. I hate when I do that. It is unrealistic worrying. Dangerous scenario creating is something I must stop and I try to by thinking of the next quilt I will make. Hopefully a quilt as wonderful as the one in the image.

A Finished String

Finally finished this string quilt that I sewed earlier this year. It is sewn on a fabric foundation so it is quite heavy. And very warm...I just finished putting the binding on by hand an hour ago and the temperature is 27C here!! Crazy thing to do on a hot day but I wanted to have it finished. Now on to the next project!!

Getting ready for my BQFF!!

My Best Quilting Friend Forever, Kathy, will be visiting me for a week starting Saturday. I cant wait. We get together at least once a year at my house and just do whatever we want. She is an awesome quilter and an awesome friend. Mostly we just work on UFO's but sometimes we have a mutual project. I think this visit I am going to teach her how to use a computer and also work on a jelly roll project. She is an accomplished hand appliquer. Her work is beautiful. Kathy is from Saint John, New Brunswick and is a member of the Marco Polo Quilters Guild.

Love my new 1/4" foot!!

In this pic you will see two 1/4" feet....the one on the left is the one that comes with my machine..Pfaff QuiltExpressions 4.0...on the right is a new (new to me) 1/4" foot by Pfaff that I recently bought. Notice how the one on the right is different in that the left-hand leg is a lot thicker. This enables it to sit fully on the feed dogs and therefore has better pressure on the fabric layers as you sew. It works so much better than the one that came with the machine. That one would skew off the fabric and made it very hard to get an accurate consistent 1/4" seam..which is so important!! My sewing has improved thanks to this foot. I love it!!

My Bali Beauty....Completed!!

Wow, I must have really enjoyed making this Beauty....I have never finished anything this quickly!! I usually start something and then go off onto another project very easily. I think there is another Beauty waiting with my name on it!!

My Bali Beauty

Got my camera back so here's a look at what I have done so far on my "Bali Beauty". It is not complete yet as I still have to do some freemotion quilting on the outer spike area. It is from the design by Karen Neary called "Oriental Beauty". Karen's patterns are awesome The batiks I used were given to me by my sister Betty. She bought them while visiting Bali last year. It is paper-pieced. The curves are machine appliqued. Such a great technique. It went together like a dream!! It will hang in my dining-room when completed.

Missing my Camera!!

My son Nathaniel left last week for a well earned vacation. He left Nova Scotia for San Francisco and took my camera!! Aaaarrrrgggh!! So I havent been able to show what I have been working on. I will give a little hint...its a Beauty!! So I just thought I would post a pic of something from a few years ago. It is a rug hooked by my Aunt and her husband. It shows my childhood home in Prospect Nova Scotia. (the white house)at the far right.

Cute PinCushion

Here's a pic of a cute little pincushion I bought at the Farmers Market at the Brewery on Saturday. Made by Sandy Charbonneau of EwesableArt. Her tea cozies are awesome!

HunnyBunny

Here's my sweet niece Katherine enjoying the Bernina Lady's showcase in Amherst. She absolutely loved FMQing on her takeaway project. I hope this has sparked a renewed interest in quilting for her.

Here's a few more Malaysian batiks that my awesome BIL brought me today. He arrived from Kuala Lumpur with my youngest nephew David. I have a nice assortment now and I plan on cutting into them soon.

My Fav Mags

Lots of great ideas and tips

My first Sock

I posted a while back about attempting to knit my first sock....well, I started the other day and it was a disaster. I wont bore you with the details but needless to say I had to get help to get out of my mess and the only person I know that knits is my Sister, the person I am supposed to be knitting this sock for as a surprise...well, she was very happy that I had started this venture and helped get me back on track by tinking all my mistakes. Although now the surprise is spoiled. I continue on but I fully expect to have to get her to do more tinking in the future before she receives this pair of socks as a gift!!