A cute baby quilt

A cute little baby quilt....my latest project. Must get this finished before friend's baby begins to walk!!! A

The doll applique is an image from the print fabric used to make the chevrons. Now to decide on how to quilt the quilt!

Riley Blake Challenge

Time is a precious commodity of which I wish I had more. The Riley Blake challenge came and went……...here is the final product...

A lap size dresden plate quilt. Practise, practise, practise on this quilt...I call it bonding with my machine moment!  I was practicing McTavishing quilting, freehand, using rulers etc....well I definitely need more practise!

Modern version.....

More info on quilt completed from Civil War Legacies II by Carol Hopkins:

 Bonnet Ties quilted completed using modern fabrics. The quilting on top was inspired by Crazy Mom Quilts blogspot.

The back fabric was bought from IKEA. Looks cool as backing for quilt don't you think?
I enjoyed making this quilt tremendously, despite taking much longer that I thought it would to piece the small blocks.

Book Review

 Civil War Legacies II by Carol Hopkins

Are you into creating miniature quilts, well this book may be for you. This book is comprised of 17 projects made from scrappy reproduction prints. This is Carol Hopkins second book on Civil War Quilts. Carol Hopkins has designed many quilts using reproduction fabrics.

Gettysburg Sun Quilt

Most of the quilts are small approximately 28 inches by 34 inches, block sizes average 3 inches. Two quilts are of medium size, 51 inch square, and 44 inch square, respectively. Each quilt has detailed instructions on how to piece the blocks. A brief introduction related to the Civil War describes the quilt pattern in each chapter.

Lilies for Connie Quilt

With no previous experience in making miniature quilts, I decided that I would review this book and create a miniature quilt. I chose the Bonnet Ties quilt pattern. The quilt measures 27” by 33”, and the blocks are 3”by 3”.

Bonnet Ties Quilt

This was also the first time I constructed the pinwheel block. Fabrics used in my version of the quilt were from the modern trend versus the reproduction fabrics used in the book.

Bonnet Ties (modern fabric version)

The vibrant modern colours gave the quilt a different feel about it. Lesson learned during the quilt making process is that miniature quilts take much longer to quilt than bed size quilts, and there is no room to make mistakes! After all blocks were sewn together, the quilt came to life.

The attributes of vintage quilts change when using modern fabrics instead of reproduction fabrics.

So, if you would try a hand on miniature vintage quilts with a modern flair, this book may be for you!

Parm

Crazy Quilt

Yes!!! Finally completed my Crazy Quilt block!! That was a fantastic class, I learned so much about embroidery. I sure have come a long way from the basic straight, chain, and blanket stitches. All I need to do is frame the block...awesome!

A big thanks to Kathy for offering the online course!

Understanding Needles and Thread

Here's an excellent video on needles and threads, posted by Handi Quilter!!!

Book Review

What a busy life! Finally I made time to complete this book review! Book reviews for quilting, or any hobby, are much more interesting than those we had to write in English class. Here’s a quick snap shot of the book:

Brave New Quilts by Kathreen Ricketson, features many informative articles related to the basics of quilting from colour theory, fabric choices, and how to design quilts using modern techniques.  The author incorporates modern art in designing the 12 modern quilts offered in this book.  A brief note on each artistic period is outlined for each pattern.   I recommend this book to all quilters, and readers alike, if you enjoy creating quilts with an out of the box flair.

For those that have difficulty in choosing colour combinations, myself included, many colour schemes are shown in each project.

This Peacock Blue quilt is one that I aspire to make eventually, amongst all my other quilting projects!  I love the different shades of blues and ambers in this quilt.  There is an ample amount of negative space for quilting, yes!

              

Using texts in quilts, I have a special person in mind for creating a quilt with words.  The author teaches us how to design, and personalize text quilts.

Colour play, design play, and word play are just some of the exciting features of this book. I hope you get inspired and create with this brief book review! 

Crazy Quilt Class

This is one of my favourite classes to date. I am learning various techniques in this class. The only stitches in embroidery I knew prior top this class was the blanket, chain and straight stitch. Now I know how to stitch the French Knot, my favourite thus far, and how to use ribbon to create flowers. 

Here's my before and after block.

Palette is a mix of shades of greys, cremes, light brown and white.

I still need to complete a couple of stitching rows, add some beads and finish roses.

My absolute favourite stitch learned from the class is the French Knot.

I also enjoyed working on the iris and cannot wait to start the roses, but I will need to complete the embroidery first. Sure wish there was enough time in day to work on all my projects!! 

A little baby quilt...

Here's a quilt I'm currently working on. Pattern inspiration from my FB quilting buddy CT Tinkle. I will post more details about and links once quilting is completed.

And more to follow on the Crazy Quilting class......

I'm back!!!!

Ok, so I've been very neglectful of my blog for 2013...wow last entry was Feb 2013! So much has happened in a year. Sold old house, now in a much bigger home with basement to house my Gammill quilting system. I love my new studio! Trip to Malaysia...fantastic...met all my long lost cousins...actually I think my family is the long lost cousins since all our cousins, on mums side, are still in Malaysia. Such a beautiful country...I'll have to make more trips out there. My Granny passed away, she was 105 years old!! I hope I live and surpass her age....So many wonderful stories of my Granny. I also joined the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild...awesome people...learning loads! I'm also working on quilts again. Work and kids (almost grown up), keep me busy. Sure can't wait to retire again!
Dear blog, I promise I will keep up with postings this year....there, I did it....now I am committed to keeping up with blogging.
Recently, I joined the Crazy Quilt course offered by Kathy here. It's going to be fun...especially meeting new people.
Cheers and happy quilting! ;)