Sunday Afternoon Fun

I had an opportunity  to "play" yesterday afternoon. Last week I bought a couple of stencils from Judi http://greenfairyquilts.blogspot.ca/ at Green Fairy quilts. She sells the stencils as PDF so you dont even have to wait for them to come in the mail. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy a visit to Judi's blog. Her quilting is exquisite.

This little quilty is just 10x10 ish. I wanted to try the design out before actually using it in a quilt. The method I used to mark the stencil you can find on Pat's blog. She follows SewCalGal's FMQ challenge. All info is on Pat's blog with links to the other blog. It worked very well.

Micro stippling on the outside of the design and pebbles on the inside. It is amazing how much you can learn from one little piece.

 I have a quilt top that has some big squares in it. I am always challenged by big open spaces. I think this design will work well.

I am forever grateful to quilters who share their knowledge and experience. So exciting to try something new.

Watch out for today's blessings!

Fred's Roses

That is what I called this little wall hanging. I made it for a friend of mine who turned 80 last week. Fred was her husband's name and he always had amazing roses bushes. He passed away several years ago, so it was kind of a tribute to him as well .

It was a paper piecing pattern by Eileen Sullivan. Her patterns are so fun to do. Fabric was bits and pieces of batiks. Paper still on the back.

Some pics of the machine quilting.

You cant really tell but that rose in the front is trapunto-ed. I did the roses and leaves in the front and the rose buds. It was the first time I had tried trapunto. Not sure if i really liked it but it does add a bit of dimension.

Sun is shining but still a bit cold here to be outside gardening, so will sew for a bit today. Working on my swoon blocks and a mystery quilt from the online Quilt Mag.

Watch out for today's blessings!

A little road trip

Hubby had to work in Charlottetown PEI, so I went along for the trip. I look forward to these little trips, just to have a break in the routine. To watch a little TV, read, nap, you know.

View from my hotel. That strip of blue is of course, the ocean.

Next a picture of the hotel we stayed in. It was built in the early 1900's. It was a famous hotel in its day. It is still beautiful. It has been updated with all of the modern conveniences.

Walked along that board walk which was almost at the waters edge.  That white building is seniors apartments. Awesome to retire there!

Of course I took some hexies to work on. I have them in various stages of development. Using scraps of course. It was good to get some completed. Each one is like a tiny little quilt.

You know the how the saying goes, "Good to get away, good to get home"

I have completed a couple of things I want to blog about, so hopefully it wont be as long in between blogs. I am always amazed how much time has passed!

Watch out for today's blessing.

Bits and pieces.

But they are exciting bits!

These piles represent two strip quilts. Strip quilts are so fun. One pile has 99, 7 1/2", blocks and the other pile has 80, 8 1/2", blocks, which completes the numbe  of blocks I need for each quilt. Instead of using muslin for the foundation, I used paper. It worked well and the resulting quilt will not be so heavy. I  am going to link up with Amanda at Crazy Mums Quilts for her Finish it up Friday.

The next "piece" is my first Swoon blocks. I was bit scared after doing the first one. As you see, because I picked a black back ground, it looks like a Halloween block even though it is pink and yellow. But then when I did the next one, I felt better. I love how the strips look. I was not careful to lay the strips a certain way so they would line up. Kind of like life, you never know what it will throw at you next.

And the last but not the least "bit". This book arrived in the mail just this morning!. I have hardly cracked the cover, because when I do, I wont be thinking about anything else. I did "peak" as I waited for the pictures to upload. So amazing and inspirational. This book is a must have for anyone wanting to expand their FMQ horizons. Check out Diane's Gaudynski's blog. Lots of tips there as well.

Well that's it for this fine Friday. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Watch out for today's blessings!

Post Script!

Just a note about my previous post.  I neglected to say that the applique design is not mine. I got it from a quilting magazine that I have looked for off and on all weekend, to no avail. The quilt top has been finished for awhile, so the quilt mag is not right at my finger tips. There a distinct possibility that I will not find it:(. I feel bad about that. I so appreciate all of the design, quilting process and believe that credit should be given where credit its due. It is hard work and I know that a person  pours a bit of  themselves into the things they create. I appreciate the quilting community for the willingness to freely share patterns, techniques etc. With out that, the quilting process would not be as rewarding and fun. I am still  hoping I will find that mag! In the mean time, thank you, who ever you are, for sharing your design, that I thoroughly enjoyed doing!

Thanks also for the kind comments about the quilting:) So encouraging!

Keep an eye open for today's blessings!

Tulips

Is it too early for tulips and thoughts of spring? I am done with winter. Even though our winter here in NS was basically a good one, I am wanting it to be over. It is +14,  and the sun is shining today so thought I would post pics of this little quilty I finished this week..

Picture of the quilting:

Hand applique and machine quilting.
I  am thankful for people who so freely share their expertise on their blogs.  Leah Day, whose link I have posted on my blog before and Wendy Sheppard. Her blog is worth a visit. She is published in many magazines. Her FMQ is amazing and her "Thread Talks" are a wealth of information.

There is some newly purchased fabric in the washer as I type, to complete a couple of tops I have on the go. When one is completed, another one takes its place. That is the way it is supposed to be, right?!!!

Watch out for today's blessings.

Turning Twenty

Well not really. I am afraid being twenty is only a distant memory. I am talking about the "turning twenty" quilt pattern. I am sure many quilters have made one. I made this particular one a couple of years ago with a couple of friends that wanted something  not too complicated and quick to put together. It is now complete due to my effort of making my WIP pile a little smaller.

There is everything in this quilt as far a fabric goes. I aimed for fabrics that went well together at least in my opinion so there are batiks. Asian, and regular cottons. What I wanted to make note of though, was the quilting. My daughter in law gave me a quilt book for mother's day last year. It is by Malka Dubrawsky. She does amazing work.

As you can see it is quilted with parallel lines that are different widths apart. Now, I must confess that I measured the distance from previous line of quilting and made little "tick" marks as I was going along, also measured from the edges of  the blocks to help me keep the lines parallel  to the blocks and quilt edges. I did not do it free motion. Malka does hers free motion and she does not mark anything. I knew I would find it too frustrating to do that so did what was comfortable for me. I liked how it turned out. The close lines of stitching make the quilt feel extra bulky and solid. Even though it took a bit of time I would do this on a quilt again because of that. It is fairly easy too. Good for a beginner.

Keep an eye out for today's blessings!

Donna