Tag: Quilt

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

November

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I am not entirely sure how December has arrived when I was just getting used to it being November!

The very best part of November in my books is that it’s Liam’s Birthday…he turned 12 last week.

My Dad hosted a family dinner in Liam’s honour, he smoked a turkey that Liam’s Mom provided and the rest of the dinner was made by my daughter Katie and I. Family dinners are so much easier when everyone helps!

I wish that I had taken a picture of his gift and reaction to opening it. You see he had requested money for an upcoming trip in February…this request was made in the summer. So to make it fun, I put 4 $1. USD bills in a peanut butter jar as a liner to look like the label…then filled a third of it with coins and wrapped more bills into the centre of the coins and topped the jar up with our remaining Halloween treats. The gift was a total success.

As his Grandma I have enjoyed his childhood so much, we have spent so much time together and he has truly brought so much joy in my life. These last months I have noticed how much he has grown and is definitely less of a little boy. I am sure by his next birthday he will be taller than I am, his life is busy with soccer and school and friends as it should be…though he has told me he still plans to be here in the summer and our annual trip to the Dells.

When my 3 year old granddaughter Minka let me know that she wanted an all pink quilt, I happily got on that…I am also making one for her sister. Pink is Minka’s favourite colour right now. The quilt is similar to Olivia’s baby quilt that I made last summer.

A night time shot of my design wall.

I have been collecting pink fabric for awhile now, I took advantage of Road17N’s Black Friday sale and ordered backing fabric and a couple more metres of pinks…what a great surprise to find more pink fabrics inside the parcel a few days later!

I really try to allow for an hour of piecing every evening after I finish working on the Longarm. I may have to add an extra hour in the morning in order to finish both quilts.

My presentation of my quilting journey went well at the November Quilt Guild meeting.

Welcome to December…

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Cathy’s Stretched Periwinkle Quilt

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Cathy took part in Joyce Gilmores quilting retreat in Terrace Bay this fall, she had let me know that she was making the quilt and as she already had a quilt in the queue when she told me she was going I had added this Christmas one along with her batik quilt.

If you let me know when you begin a quilt and would like to have me quilt it for you I will add you into my list at that point.

She has named her quilt Baby it’s Cold Outside.

It was a fun and happy quilt to work on and she chose the pantograph Rhapsody and a perfect one in my opinion for this quilt!

Cathy likes to have me attach her bindings for her so that they are ready for hand stitching when she picks them up.

She had this quilt completed finished for Monday and showed both this and her Batik quilt at the Guild meeting this week.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Disappearing Hourglass Quilt

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Monday…was my presentation of my Quilting Journey at the Thunder Bay Quilters Guild meeting. It is the last in person meeting until the spring.

It was really important to me, to show my quilts in person as I also like people to see and yes feel free to touch my quilts!

One of the quilts that I was asked about after my presentation was my Hourglass quilt. My friend Alva and I challenged each other to make them.

I made mine with Kaffe Fasset fabrics with a solid white background.

Alva’s in Batiks

Hers was quilted shortly after she made hers (using the pantograph Starswirl) this was the last quilt that Alva made, she had attached her binding herself, and it was the only quilt of hers that I hand stitched the binding for her as she was no longer able to.

I had to tuck mine away for a while.…

When I was ready, I quilted mine with the pantograph Rhododendron. it also began my run on Kaffe quilts that I made…which I did show some of on Monday.

We used the tutorial by Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt to make our quilts. It’s a fun, easy quilt to make and one that really showcases beautiful fabrics.

Preparing for my presentation, was a journey for me personally as I decided which quilts to show. I hope that new quilters noticed my progress from beginner to where I am now in my journey and it encouraged them in their own journey.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Joan’s Quilt

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This quilt left the studio yesterday. I love Joan’s quilts, every one of them is different and fun!

I chose the pantograph Tickle Too, it has some feathers and swirls that just added more visual interest in this scrappy quilt. I really enjoy hand guiding my Longarm Quilting Machine, after quilting for so many years it has truly become a friend.

Joan couldn’t remember the pattern that she used, other than she found it on Pinterest. Does any one recall the name of it?

The quilt was trimmed and not shown but the binding was also prepared and ready for binding at pick up.

The beautiful fabric with the large Hibiscus blooms deserved…in my opinion…for the be pattern matched.

It does take a little extra time to match the pattern when preparing the backing, however I feel that it is time well spent. This is a service that is complimentary for my customers.

Taking a little extra time to prepare a quilt for loading onto the Longarm helps me to achieve the beautiful results that I am happy and proud to show my customers.

Let me help you bring your quilting projects to completion!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Freehand Quilting and Practice

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This picture of a customer quilt from 2014 always makes me smile. I love the look of freehand quilting. There are many sources for learning freehand quilting now and at the time I quilted this quilt Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy was promoting her early books and inspiring many quilters.

This particular quilt was a lot of fun to put to use some of the techniques that I had recently learnt.

For the most part my quilting is done on my APQS Millennium Longarm which truly is such a wonderful machine .

However, I have always admired people who also quilt on their domestic machines and in the last couple of years have set goals for myself to work on that.

Another quilter who has inspired me is Cindy Needham and I have taken some of her classes over the years. She has some on Craftsy that I really enjoyed.

Lately after I finish working on customer quilts I will spend some time quilting using my Juki Haruka playing and practicing freehand quilting. I have been playing with small squares with 3” grids and loving the texture. These are some earlier examples of playing.

Just like when I was learning to quilt with my Longarm it takes what we used to call PPP practice practice practice!

My friend Ana Paula teaches so many amazing classes and one of them is freehand quilting if you want to learn and want a fantastic teacher I highly recommend her! She has also inspired me to spend time playing and growing in my freehand quilting fun.

http://www.canadapaulabrasil.ca

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Dancing and a Quilt

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Having a couple of granddaughters who are enjoying dance classes this recent customer quilt is a little more than inspiring. Time will tell.

We chose the pantograph two of hearts, which has been a very popular choice recently. The hearts really convey the love the maker Mom has for her dancing daughter.

The pretty pink fireside backing is a perfect match and has made this quilt perfect for snuggling as our temperatures continue to dip below freezing.

This quilt is trimmed and ready for binding.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Quilting and Life Autumn

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It’s official, the Summer has passed and our home is now filled with the sweet aroma of apples from our trees being made into juice!

We had to be a little creative and purchase a new canner that would work with the induction range and thankfully it’s all working!

My Longarm and I are busy as usual and as always I continue to accept tops for quilting.

My 2 1/2 squares project is almost ready to become a quilt top and has made a fun project to look at on the design wall.

And….playing with these squares has inspired me to start a new project to play with…a postage block quilt!

This one will take a lot longer…more to come!

Thunder Bay Quilters Guild held the first meeting of the 2023/24 season this week. Also the first in person meeting after 2 years! The meetings will resume on zoom over the winter months and back to in person in the spring.

Ana Paula http://www.canadapaulabrasil.ca and I have collaborated on a fun project for the Teddy Bear Quilts program for the guild this week. These quilts are small and fun and will be gifted with a stuffed animal from Santa Claus for Christmas.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Longtime Gone Quilt progress

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I am all about savouring some projects! This quilt has been one of those that it seems can’t be rushed. When I first learnt about this Jen Kingwell Pattern it was the possibility of making it really bright happy and scrappy.

The recommended borders just didn’t suit me and so I took a little more time to ponder and finally decided to piece more monkey wrench and 60° triangles for two corners and will complete the rest with checkerboard piecing.

So it shouldn’t be too much longer before this top is completed, I have the backing waiting and quilting planned out.

My Longarm and I have been busy which is where most of my quilting time is spent.

What have you been working on?

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Stash, Scraps, Work and Life

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I love Saturday mornings not that they are really any different these days from other mornings…I love to start my day slowly with a fresh cup of coffee.

Did you know that you can buy a smart coffee cup and that you can set the temperature on your phone? The coffee stays the same temperature until your last sip!

I still love my coffee in my special to me mugs…but someone is retiring in 6 weeks and has always wished that his coffee would stay hot…

Onto my stash…I have been slowly re organizing my beloved collection…one of my daughters who loves to live minimally suggested not long ago that I purge my sewing room! I told her that I am still regretting the fabric that I parted with when I moved!!!

My friend Marlene recently gifted me with fabric that I have always wished I had bought more of! It just makes me smile.

Quilting has been one of my main passions for most of my adult life however most of that time was full of responsibilities of caring for family and earning our living.

Sometimes a couple things need to be added to an order to reach free shipping 🤓

My Longarm quilting has been and will continue to be for others and occasionally myself…all of those quilts have added to the non stop inspiration!

So my stash stays, it grows and I happily and excitingly accept gifts of peoples scraps that would otherwise go to waste…because I can see that as seasons change so do seasons of life and I am finally at the stage that I have been preparing for!

Life was full and busy this week, Liam really enjoyed our field trip and kept me on my toes keeping him fed! He tells me that I make the best food!

I really cherish these days that we share together. He will head back to the classroom the week after next. So far anyways as Ontario is closed to all but essential…

I had planned to buy cards to mail my swap blocks with however…that was a cannot buy item when I was out the other day. I have cards here to use and thankfully we could still buy stamps!

Sisterhood Quilt Swap blocks ready to go.

It’s been a rainy several days …not a lot of sunshine. This customer quilt has reminds me of our colours soon to be out the windows!

Today I am taking a class with Daisy Aschehoug of https://warmfolk.com ….more on that soon.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Inspiration, Quilt Backs and Fuelled by Fabric

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Have you ever come across someone’s quilt that not only the top caught your eye but the back as well?

Early this winter my brain really needed a break from all of the world happenings and so I started reading new to me blogs. There were some that I ended up reading from their start to their most recent posts…oh the inspiration out there!

One blog that caught my eye and interest is this one https://louisaenright.com

Louisas design wall when I found her held two scrap quilts that looked like a lot of fun to piece. One was her gaggle of geese, she has a tutorial on her blog to make these geese one at a time which is very helpful when using scraps.

Gaggle of Geese by Louisa Enright

“A Gaggle of Geese” Quilt

I really love the top and those who know me know that I love piecing flying geese and have a wonderful collection of scraps…so this style quilt is on my to do list. I also couldn’t help myself but to source the backing that she used.

I started by checking with my friend Donna who owns and runs a Quilt Bus that she named Fuelled by Fabric.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/fuelled-by-fabric-quilt-bus-1.4759406

Donna normally travels with her bus/quilt shop all over North Western Ontario with her wonderful bus full of fabric and goodies! She found the fabric and ordered a bolt which led to a trip to her shop in Pass Lake…

While ordering backings, Donnas husband wanted to choose one and below is the result…it is interesting I can’t wait to see the quilts it ends up on!