Christmas in July

Hard to believe it's only 146 days til Christmas. Linda brought me this lovely Christmas runner to quilt. I remember the week I quilted it, we broke the record for hottest day on record in St.Catharines. It was a good week to be inside quilting. It was a very nice size, 64 X 18.5...it's gonna look lovely on the table when the snow starts flying!  

Sometimes I don't quilt

Sometimes I don't quilt, sometimes I bake. This is the cake I made and decorated for my oldest daughter's " Dumped his sorry ass a year ago" anniversary party. We had a party for her to celebrate her leaving the boyfriend of considerable years, a year ago. It took her about a year to get completely over it. We had the family over, we had a barbecue, lots to drink , lots of laughs and it was good healing for us all. My daughter loved the cake and it read's   " Shoulda put a ring on it"...Beyonce's hit single that goes like this....
Cause if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it, If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it,Don't be mad once you see that *he* want it
If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it

Needless to say, she's minus one jackass and we're plus one kid back at home.

Farmer's Wife Block 9

Don't know why this block is called Box...doesn't resemble a box to me, but that's what the book says.

Farmer's Wife Block 8

Now this one I liked. The paper piecing went well and I love the look of it. It's called Bouquet. Good thing that every six blocks or so, you find one that goes together without a hitch and that you really love. It gets you back on track and keeps you motivated to keep on piecing.

Farmer's Wife Block 7

This was a challenging one to paper piece. Tiny tiny pieces. It's called Birds in the Air. If I had a gun I would have shot them down. Damn block.

Farmer's Wife Block 6

This block is called Big Dipper. It should be called Big Ripper cause I had to rip it out twice(paper piecing) and ended up just piecing it normally by doing the math for the size of the block and dividing.

Farmer's Wife Block 5

Block 5 is Bat Wing...and I'm getting batty doing these and I'm only at 5 of 110 blocks...I've opted to make a queen size quilt. You'd have to be daft dedicated to make the 145 blocks needed for the king size.  Ask me in another few days and maybe I'll opt for a pillowcase.

Farmer's Wife Block 4

This block is called Basket Case Weave...basket case is what I am now as I can't stop making these little guys. They are so much fun and when I get started one, I can't wait to see what it looks like.

Farmer's Wife Block 3

This block is called Basket...DUH  I'm still really enjoying the paper piecing. I'm learning that it is better to cut the pieces bigger than what you think you'll need...usually I try to give myself about a 1/2 inch all the way around, but I'm finding it easier to give myself about an inch.

Amy's first quilt

Amy is a 9 year old girl who took the children's quilt camp class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. over March break and made this delightful quilt. Didn't she do a great job. Her mother Donna brought it to me to have longarmed and we quilted it with Angel Wings, which looks like butterflies. I asked Amy whether she was going to continue with her quilting and what she might make next....cute little thing...she looked at me and told me she was "hooked on beading now".

Farmer's Wife Block 2

This is block 2 of Farmer's Wife. I am trying to use the fabric I have in my stash and get it to match the block from the book as close as I can, in the hopes my finished quilt will resemble the original quilt. This block is called Autumn Tints.

Farmer's Wife...Block 1

I am so hooked....On the book, on the concept, on the blocks, on the paper piecing...I haven't been able to stop. I really like the way the blocks are coming together. I opted to paper piece the 6X6 blocks even though the templates for the patterns were included on a disk in the book. As the blocks are so small and some are so intricate, I thought paper piecing would give me a more precise block and I was right. I joined Yahoo, Farmer's Wife Group and there are PDF files that you can print off for the paper piecing. This first block is called Attic Windows.

Scrap organization

Well, I'm organized and ready to go. I've decided to start the Farmer's Wife Quilt. I bought the book at Joann's a few weeks back as their books were on sale at 40% off. I hadn't really thought much about the book. I had seen it at the store, however never had a look at it. The minute I picked it up to see what it was all about, I was hooked. I bought it on the spot and couldn't wait to get started. It's a good thing I had saved all these scraps and organized them. I'm sure I have enough to at least get me started...LOL

When life gives you lemons...make a quilt

Wow, this is a beauty. Linda made this stunning quilt and brought it to be longarmed. She bought the fabric in Florida and it just screams citrus grove. I love the lemon pattern on the fabric. The pattern is from Quiltmakers July/August 2010.and is called Pinwheel Cove.  It is another one of her massive makings measuring a generous king. Stunning

B is for Beauty/Batik/BOM

This BOM quilt is so very lovely. Rita joined the BOM group and completed the year's blocks which she set together in this gorgeous quilt. It turned out fabulous and Rita will be giving it to her niece. The batiks are wonderful together and I love her mauve sashing. She brought it to be longarmed and we put a simple edge to edge design on.

Lot's and lot's of flying geese

This is my friend Sue's quilt that I just finished longarming. Pretty eh! She made it for her daughter Jessica. I just love the colors...I helped her pick them out. She has become and awesome quilter...I can hardly keep up with her.

Fun in the garden

I took some pictures recently of some of the fun things in my garden. I love gardens that look and feel whimsical. I like garden things funky and fun. Actually the weirder the better. My husband says if I buy any more junk for the garden, he'll leave me....sure gonna miss that man.

Mauve,Taupe and Gray...Hooray

OMG I love this quilt. The colors are fabulous...gray and taupe and mauve....just stunning. Arlene brought it to be longarmed and it turned out gorgeous. It was quilted in the pattern "Happy Times" and it just popped once it was quilted.

I is for Iris

This is a shot of an Iris growing in my garden. I love the shade of the mauve. I've seen batiks that same shade. I wonder if that's where they got their inspiration from. It's sad that the Iris is so short lived in the garden as they are really quite beautiful.

Jelly Roll Beauty

Don't you just love this quilt...gorgeous. This was the quilt that came from the class, that came from the store, that came from the jelly roll that Kathie bought.  The class was offered at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. Silly Kathie...she told me that this quilt wasn't her favorite....but I love it. Beautifully done. We quilted it in an edge to edge called Happy Times.

Wild thing...I think I love you

Isn't this panel quilt the cutest. my sister brought me down a few baby panels to longarm for her and this was the one she had chosen for her daughter. Her daughter had a preemie baby boy born named Riley and now he weighs over 10 pounds and will be able to enjoy this wonderful quilt. I love the vibrant colors and the funky animals. Too cute.

Village Green

This is Chris's finished Thimbleberries quilt called Village Green. I was a village idiot not to do this one really missed doing Thimbleberries when I saw this quilt. I think I have about 4 previous BOM Thimbleberries in my stash of UFO's. This one is really gorgeous and Chris did a beautiful job at piecing it. I am so jealous, I wish I had done this one!

Tipsy....no...Topsy

No I wasn't drinking when I created this backyard garden art piece. This is called the Topsy turvey and instructions are posted on the Internet as to how to make it. Quite simple really. Take a piece of rebar, place it upright in a large pot, fill the pot with soil. Next take clay pots and put the rebar post through the holes in the bottom of each pot, slanting them as you add, and having them rest on the rim of the pot below. Add soil and plants and enjoy. Fun to make, fun to enjoy and fun to freak out your garden visitors.

Lime and Raspberry Sherbet

This quilt just reminds me of Lime sherbet and Raspberry sherbet.....yum  Pam brought me the quilt to longarm and I feel in love with the colors. It was such as sweet pattern and we quilted it in Angel Wings which look like little butterflies. The quilting just popped and there is one little girl who will be tickled pink to get this quilt.

Mystery is History

Well, the Mystery Club for 2010-2011 season has come to an end. What a quick 8 months that was. It was wonderful to see them all take shape. This class was held at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and was the Border Creek Station mystery quilt called Travel by Day/Night. Here are Donna, Audrey and Arden showing off their quilts prior to adding the borders. Amazing how different each color choice looked in the quilt. A new mystery quilt class will be starting again this fall.

Mystery quilt class can be quite stressful

It can be quite stressful participating in the Mystery Club class. By the 8th month and hundreds of pieces cut and sewn and still no idea what you're making, no wonder even the most seasoned quilters lose it. This is Barb, a regular participant to Mystery Club, I think this is her 4th year. You can see her mystery quilt starting to come together on the ironing station as she quietly unravels presses her pieces. Just kidding Barb, love having you in my class.

Music to my ears

Kathie made this lovely quilt for her granddaughter.  Some of the fabric had musical instruments on it which was very appropriate as Kathie granddaughter is musically inclined and is studying music at university. The sashing fabric had gold highlights in it and with the aqua, black and gold accents it looked stunning. I just love the piano key border and how perfect to finish it off.

Bear with me

Love this bear quilt that Linda made and brought me to longarm. So cute. It was shocking pink and chocolate brown and had a wonderful co-ordinated stripe as well. She's so smart....she ran out of fabric for the backing, except for large scraps, so she pieced her backing into a huge pinwheel that matched the front.

Granddaughter's Geometric

Kathie made this geometric quilt for her granddaughter and brought it to be longarmed. It looks like a simple pattern, however the crosses were a ton of work for her. Her granddaughter picked a cozy flannel for the backing. Great job Kathie, turned out wonderful.