Autumn House Bom

This is another block from the 9 month BOM Autumn House starting in September at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. I just love the colors in this quilt. They are so rich and vibrant.

A star is born

This is Donna's mom's table topper. Isn't it lovely, and her color choices were perfect combinations. Just striking.  I love the way the star just pops right off the quilt. We quilted it in the pattern "Happy Times". It's the perfect pantograph for busy quilts, there has not been one quilt that it hasn't looked great on.

Everything Old is New Again

Don't you just love the way 30's reproduction fabrics look so vintage. This quilt really looks like it's from the 1930's. Elizabeth's mother made this quilt and she should be so proud as it turned out fabulous. Hard to believe that she has suffered a stroke and can only sew with one hand, and her eyesight is failing as well. I think it looks marvelous and she should feel such a sense of accomplishment! Once a quilter, always a quilter. 

Autumn House BOM

This is one of my favorite blocks from Autumn House. I have been working on the sample for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. The BOM will start in September. I love the way the little crow sits with the little pumpkins under him...too cute

Autumn House BOM

I really love the simplicity of this block. Just the house with the sprigs of leaves on each side. In the quilt there is just a little bit of hand embroidery that goes with each block...not overwhelming, just enough to accent each piece. The BOM will start in September at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co,

Pièce de résistance

This is the sweetest quilt ever. Barb's granddaughter Leigh made it for her girlfriend's little girl as she is learning French. I think it's adorable with the Eiffel Tower appliquéd onto it. So sweet, and one little girl named Sophie will be ecstatic, no doubt. It was quilted in the pattern Angel Wings.

Autumn House BOM

This is another favorite block completed from Bunny Hill's Autumn House BOM which will be offered starting in September at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. I just love the little acorn birdhouse. Too cute.

From Yellowknife and Back....

Elizabeth comes from Yellowknife each summer to visit her mother who lives here. Each summer she gives me a call to quilt what "goodies" she can stuff in her luggage on the trip down. This years' is the most beautiful flannel quilt with a gorgeous floral focus print centered in each block. It was amazing and looked very vintage. It looked wonderful quilted in Happy Times. Alas it has left my studio :(  and found a home with a truly blessed recipient.

Autumn House BOM

The final piece of the puzzle. The Autumn House block. This block had the most embroidery on it and while I'm not the greatest hand embroiderer, I think it turned out OK. The sample is almost finished for the store and I need to get going on getting it longarmed as the classes start in September at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co.

Look what's NEW in Erie!

One of our favorite places for a get away weekend is Erie PA.  Whether we camp at a nearby campground or whether we hotel it, we love it for the shopping. We recently were camping nearby and took a run into Erie on the Sunday afternoon. In our travel to Kohl's...we  I came across this brand spanking new Hobby Lobby!!!!!!  I almost had an orgasm  did a happy dance on the spot when I saw it because I love Hobby Lobby. This store has everything and then some. Needless to say, as I ran to the door, I was very disappointed to find that they are closed on Sundays....but in the same token...inspired by companies that still close to give their staff time with family. As a matter of fact, they actually post that on their store hours board.  Now I know it's there, I'll make sure we plan for any day but Sunday.

This Braid makes the Grade

This is Lori's patriotic  red, white and blue scrap Braid quilt. We're in Canada so these are not our true colors, however it's what Lori had left in her stash. It might look patriotic, but it's still lovely. I really like these braid quilts and have always wanted to make one. As I longarmed it for Lori it kept inspiring me to make one. (One of these days) When Lori brought it, the quilt was quite off kilter...probably 4 or more inches out in one corner. Lori says...."Just do what you can do to quilt it." It's amazing what the quilt frame and machine can do with a little stretching and tucking here and there. Turned out well and almost square....no one would ever know if I'd not told you.

Autumn House BOM

There are a total of nine blocks in this BOM called Autumn House by Bunny Hill Designs. The classes will start in September at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. I have all the blocks completed and now just need to find some time to get them all together and longarm it.

Farmer's Wife Block 14

This block is called Butterfly at the Crossroads. It was a fairly simple block to paper piece. It would have been just as easy to piece normally as well as it is just comprised of half square triangles with square patches. I must say I really am enjoying these blocks and the book itself. I love seeing them come together from scraps of fabric.

Gobble Gobble...Thanksgiving is coming

I'm all set for Thanksgiving with this adorable turkey runner from Eleanor Burns. I picked up the pattern and ruler at the local Quilt Guild show and could not wait to get it done. It's in batiks and was so simple to make. In fact you can get two runners out. The fabric, cutting and sewing instructions get you two sets of turkeys so all that's required is additional fabric for the runner itself. Bonus! I will be teaching this class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co, this fall. It's a great project and so cute for the fall and Thanksgiving.

Autumn House BOM

This sample for the BOM called Autumn house has been so much fun to work on. I love the color choices and fabric lines we chose. The classes will start in September at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co.

Farmer's Wife Block 13

This is the Buckwheat Block and it was a bit of a challenge for me. For some reason when I marked my paper piecing with the color choices, I must have put some of the color markings in the wrong space as when the block was completed it did not look like this. I had to pick it out and move some of the darker red triangles around to get them in the right spot. Typically it should take about an hour to complete one of these more complex blocks, but I think I worked on this one for a few hours plus a few swear words added in for good measure.

Socks and Sandals.....OMG

     I love the quilt but the guy holding it with the socks and sandals has gotta go. That's my dear hubby hiding behind my "made it while I was camping" quilt...I'd hide too if I was wearing that footwear combo. This quilt was made from scraps from my Vintage Homestead quilt...all I had to add was the sashing pieces. It's from  the  Book called "Cozy Modern Quilts" by Kim Schaefer and the quilt is called "Carousel Lap Quilt". I love the way the pattern plays tricks on your eyes...it looks like the pieces are curved when really they are straight cuts.

Two for the price of one

What a bonus when you get two quilt from one. A few years back we visited Las Vegas and my Dear Hubby was kind enough to take me to a few quilt shops that are in the area. At one of the shops, the Christmas Goose,  I picked up a lovely kit  called The Vintage Homestead. I finally, a few years later, got around to making it. The kit was quite generous in its fabric and I managed to get another quilt out of the scraps leftover. All I needed for the extra quilt was a small amount for sashings and borders. The kit was originally $60.00 so I think I did OK as both quilts are about lap size....it's nice when you get a bonus!  

Picnic Lil Twister

This was a cute Lil Twister quilt that Rita made and brought to me to longarm. She had made it special with the intent that it would be for her and her sweet granddaughter Tess to use as a picnic blanket. We quilted it in butterflies and it looks so sweet. I know that Tess will enjoy picnics with her Nana Rita on this treasured little beauty.

Farmer's Wife Block 12

Broken Sugar Bowl....boy, I don't know what they did back in those days but there must have been a lot of china flying around  cause we've got broken dishes last block and broken sugar bowl this block....Nice block to complete. I did paper piece it, but it could have easily been pieced with half square triangles and 4 patches.

Autumn House BOM

Lots of detail in this centre block from Autumn House's BOM. It's been lots of fun to put all the little houses together, all with fall themed fabric. Can't wait for it to start in September at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co.

Birdie Stitches July BOM

I did get this block completed in July, even though I'm not posting it til now. The block is suppose to be embroidery only, but I've opted to applique, plus some. I was able to machine embroider the fireworks onto the block then add the applique birdies after. It's been a challenge each month trying to adapt Little Miss Shabby's pattern to my own applique interpretation. I think it turned out OK though.

Blue Bird of Happiness

I love to make pincushions from finds a local thrift and vintage stores. This little guy turned out sweet. I gift them to my students in most of the classes I teach. We have a draw at the end of each class and the winner takes all.

Farmer's Wife Block 11

This is Broken Dishes (Farmer's Wife Block 11) and believe me I could have thrown a plate myself when I did this one. I did paper piece it, however in hindsight it would have been easier to just make half square triangles and complete the block that way.

Autumn House BOM

I've been working on Bunny Hill's Autumn House BOM for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. It will be offered as a BOM starting in September. We had so much fun with Tiny Town last year that we've opted to do another.

Little ones

This was the last mini class held at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. It was a three session class using different techniques to make mini quilts. This last class utilized 1 inch grid fusible interfacing to make a small quilt. The project goes together quite fast and allows for precision piecing when you sew the lines on the back of the interfacing.  We had a nice selection of "little ones" come out of the class.

Mini Me

I taught the mini class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Company the last few months and this is another finish from the class. It's paper pieced and fits perfectly on my mini quilt stand. It's done in Christmas fabric so it'll be a nice addition to show off during the holiday season. This little black one is one of the students' creations. She opted to do some machine embroidery on hers to accent the piece. The lovely "little" in fall tones is Connie's creation and it looks amazing. She opted to lay out her fabric differently which gives the piece a totally different look.

Hope this comes with a pool!

This is July's House Hunting BOM from The Quilt Patch. The pattern was originally made in country colors and fabrics, however I opted to punch it up a bit in primary kid friendly prints. I like the way it's coming along and it should be really cute when it's all complete. Just another six months to go. It's been so hot here in southern Ontario, just sweltering if you're outside, so I'm spending most of the time inside in the air conditioning. It's days like this I wish we'd bought a house with a pool.

You can take it with you

During the summers we try to get away as often as we can camping. When we do, I find I miss my quilting quite a bit. Now we don't really camp...we have a small(very small) travel trailer with all the amenities. Our kids laugh when they tell the story of us "camping"...with our queen bed, washroom, air conditioner, cable TV, WiFi, coffee maker...but as you age, it's nice to think you can still camp and this just makes it easier. Even when we only go for a few days it seems like we've had a mini holiday. I bring my smaller-lighter machine, my mini ironing board and iron so I can get my fix while we're away.   It's a little camped  cramped, but it works!

Farmer's Wife Block 10

This is Farmer's Wife Block 10 called Bowtie. I have been paper piecing each block and it sure is nice when you get a nice easy one to put together like this one.

Sew Sisters

 This is the Sew Sisters group from Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. We all got together for an evening of fun and sewing, We were making a quilt for one of the staff members, Amy, who is getting married and we thought it would be wonderful to make her a quilt from all of us. We all had a purpose...some sewed, some pressed, some cut, some pinned and Jane did the longarming. We ordered Chinese, warped the new cutting board, laughed hysterically and had a great time. Time well spent. Thank to Marg for organizing everything.  Doesn't it look great finished. Amy loved it!