Author: wendysquilting

Professional Longarm Machine Quilter in Thunder Bay Ontario.
Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Life and Quilting

wendysquilting

March seems like a bit of blurr this year! It was a busy month with quilting, renovations that have officially begun…and a pretty rough cold tucked into the middle that grounded me to the sofa and bed for a few days.

Now that it’s April one would think it would seem like spring here however after last weeks storm and an addition 4 inches of snow this week our world is still white.

We often have seven or so deer often in the yard, nibbling on our trees and being way too brave! We do our best to discourage them.

This is often the view out of the living room picture window… they seem so sweet!

They are getting too bold, when I was sewing after supper last night it seemed to suddenly get dark, I looked up and there were 2 deer right against the window above me…nibbling on what they could find in the flowerbed from last year.

I went upstairs to send them off but when I went to open the front door there was an additional 2 standing on the doorstep! they did eventually take off! Liam finds them pretty entertaining at times.

Liam’s class went on a field trip yesterday. He was so excited and said that it was the best school day ever. They visited Boreal Journey Dog Sled and Kennel. Liam absolutely loves dogs and learnt so much from his day. I was so glad that I got to pick him up from school and enjoy the stories!

They ate their lunch around a campfire…he said he didn’t want to waste too much time eating so only ate his sandwich….he ate two full helpings of supper last night though.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Altheas Quilt

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This quilts maker has been working on using up her Mother’s stash for a few years now. She is very creative and has a lot of fun with her designs!

I will start though with the backing that had two pieces that needed to grow into one large back. I decided on this layout as it was interesting, fun to piece and made the best use of the fabric supplied.

It also really shows off the quilting, doesn’t it?

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Spring Storms

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March can be such an interesting month. This March certainly has been.

I have been quietly working away on my customer quilts, I did get waylaid a bit by a cold that forced me into a few days of rest. This allowed time to also hand sew some bindings.

My Flock quilt top is completed and I have a quilting plan but will need to decide both on the backing and then when it will fit into the longarm que. I absolutely love the colours and pattern of this quilt. I may have mentioned before that I let the blocks land where they may…I placed them on the wall as I made them and for the most part kept them in that order.

Last week we had some really lovely weather that allowed for some coffee and for Erik reading on the deck. Then this!

I put the ruler in the snow at noon March 23rd this was in the driveway that the day before was almost bare.
March 18th
To be fair the head had melted off of the snowman but still! That was a lot of snow!

The sun has returned this morning and the temperature will be above zero all day, hopefully that was this winters last hurrah though somehow I suspect we haven’t seen the last spring storm for 2022.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Minecraft Quilt

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This quilt will totally delight the 11 year old recipient…he has been waiting for it to be completed. It is one of the first bigger quilts made by his Grandma.

The pattern for this quilt can be found on https://www.kellifanninquilts.com/p/minecraft-sew-along.html. It was part of a sew a long and the designer has kept the block patterns up for others to enjoy. She also included the patterns for lettering and the dragon that was used for the backing.

The quilts maker chose the pantograph water-world. Children’s quilts are meant to be used and loved, a quilting design such as this will help the quilt to withstand years of use!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Quilting and Life

wendysquilting

I love Saturday mornings! It’s funny really because all of my mornings begin the same way with a nice it cup of coffee that I savour as I slowly begin my day with some reading, and often an hour or so of piecing. Still weekend mornings seem special!

This week flew by, every day we both commented on how all of a sudden another day was finished. I of course work on my Longarm and this week on a special piecing project that involves some different for me colours and a backing that I absolutely adore and will add piecing to it to make it work.

This is an extra special project for someone who is arriving in April!

Erik has been busy with his own piecing project. He is putting up dry wall in the laundry/utility room. What a transformation already.

Liam has thankfully recovered from his bought with covid. He missed a week of school….the week before March break so 2 weeks off which suits him just fine.

People who know me know that I love piecing, I love the accuracy that I can achieve. I am not about speed sewing to me it has never been about how many quilts I can get done. Years ago I adopted the saying “savour the journey”. Sometimes I come across a blog post that really speaks to me.

This post is from 2018 but still resonates… it is written by Modern Quilt Designer Shannon Fraser from Montreal. The rest of her blog is worth visiting as well.

http://shannonfraserdesigns.ca/2018/05/15/are-you-fast-or-slow-quilter-discussion/

The sun is shining, the bountiful snow banks and hills are glistening this morning! The time change happens tonight and we are ready for the scenery to change as well…spring will arrive!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Creativity…not quilting related

wendysquilting

While most of my creative endeavours are quilting related and I really don’t see that changing, I do love to be creative in the kitchen.

I am really fortunate to cook for someone who is very appreciative of my kitchen skills and who is not a picky eater. I often will try a new recipe that I find online.

This week I made https://www.budgetbytes.com/teriyaki-meatball-bowls/ it was easy fast and only a few ingredients that I had on hand. I substituted ground chicken for the ground pork.

My kitchen adventures became a lot more fun this week due to the latest addition to my tools! This addition was a little premature though some say it’s about time.

You see I live with one of the most handy men I know, this stove was bought in 1989 and while we had plans to replace it we had hoped to wait until we finished updating the house…long awaited retirement plans!

Well a couple of weeks ago while making my tried and true sweet and sour meatball recipes the oven decided not to turn on! After a serious hour or so of diagnosing it was determined that it was time for a new stove.

I have been researching for some time. We had for a long while planned for a gas stove but when introduced to induction and learning more about it we decided that was the way to go.

So while I was out shopping for new cookware…yes you do need certain cookware…I was due for an upgrade there anyways…this was delivered:

So, now I was able to bake the above meatballs with convection and the sauce on induction. The learning curve has been so easy. The first night was stir fry and wow that was fast and easy. The best part is the cleanup!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Fun Scrap Quilts

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I suppose it would be wise to always sew up scrap fabrics into useable blocks or as I read recently, to only buy as much fabric that one needs for each project. However, a quilt that I recently wrote about and shared showed of a lifetime of collecting fabrics and scraps!

This quilt is an example of a fun and easy scrap quilt! I used the pantograph Popcorn as I always reminds me of clouds and the backing called for just that!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Millie’s Quilt and backings

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It may be March, but winter hold its grip here in NW Ontario. We already have more than enough snow and now are forecasted to receive another 20cm over the weekend.

Millie’s latest quilt was a bright addition to my studio. One of the things that I do for my customers with no extra charge is to piece their quilt backs if needed. Sometimes the piecing isn’t just a matter of sewing two or three lengths of fabric.

Millie had two different fabrics and just sewing a seam did not grow the back to the right size. I actually prefer interesting backs.

I used the pantograph Shasta Daisy on this pretty quilt.

I don’t always know where the patterns that my customers use to make their quilts. How fun for me to find out today that Millie used the pattern City Slicker by Highway 10 Designs.

https://highway10designs.com/collections/pdf-quilt-patterns/products/copy-of-city-slicker-paper-quilt-pattern

I have been following Kathy’s blog for years and really admire her work!

https://tamarackshack.blogspot.com

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Memories and Family

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My love of sewing began as a small child, my mother sewed and her machine was never put away as I recall. I loved to play with fabric!

We had a neighbour at one time who made Raggety Ann dolls and Barbie doll clothes and oh did I love that woman’s sewing room. So full of colour and fun! I remember receiving one of her dolls…I also loved that doll until she was threadbare. That revealed the stuffing…pantyhose!

A family trip to visit my Aunty Mary in Kamloops in that same era of my life holds a strong memory of a bag of scrap fabrics that she gave me to play with! (My Aunty Mary is my Dads sister)

I have been fortunate to have so many people who are creative in my life. My Aunty Mary is a weaver and her work is so beautiful, if I wasn’t a quilter…I would want to be a weaver!

One of Aunty Mary’s looms and a towel in progress.

My Aunt also hooks rugs and shared this on her Facebook page in thinking of those in Ukraine.

I read a blog this morning whose writer hadn’t written these last two years…they have been challenging years and the latest development in the world is as she called it such a sucker punch! I know for myself as the horrible news of what is happening in Ukraine began to unfold it was hard to feel safe, hopeful and creative without feeling guilty. I still feel at a loss, my creativity has always been a refuge from life’s storms and I am still so thankful for it.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

56 Block Quilt

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This quilt was pieced during a weekly block challenge of a block a week by my customer. She used primarily batik fabrics for the top and the backing is batik as well.

There is so much to see when looking at this quilt that I chose a very soft flowing pantograph that just added the right touch.