Professional Longarm Quilting Services
Life has been very full and heavy at times lately. My friend Kim and I decided we needed a visit with Donna at her quilt shop.
I was needing some wide backs for customer quilts and Donna always has such great wide backs. I was able to find just the right ones and even one for my Moda Block head quilt.
For those who don’t know, her shop is called Fuelled by Fabric and is usually a mobile shop using a refurbished bus that her husband found online.
Well I am Canadian so it is colour, though I am very much looking forward to taking part in the Color Collective (of course from the States).
I have never really been able to decide on one favourite colour as it seems to always change, though in the last years I do find a lot of comfort in blues.
In my early years of quilting I loved the softer colours and gravitated towards very soft colours probably because I found them to be soothing I needed the safety and comfort in those challenging years raising children as a single Mom working in a stressful office.
My friend Alva was always encouraging me to play with more colour to use real colours true reds for instance. She had such an eye for colour. She left me with with many lessons and colour wheels and fabric examples.
Over the years I became tired of the soft pastel quilts. Lately I am craving more, more colour, more contrast perhaps but maybe more wow in my choices! Maybe just change. Life should evolve and change, right?
So now, I am ready to embrace Colour and learn more about it. I have the tools, colour wheels, books on colour theory and of course information on the web.
If your are at the how do I understand Colour and Quilts stage of your journey I recommend Karen Browns you tube videos she has some very good and easy to follow videos to help you understand Colour Theory.
https://www.justgetitdonequilts.com/blog/categories/colour
Her site and You Tube videos are a fantastic resource for not only new quilters but also seasoned quilters as there is always something new to learn.
Where are you on your Colour Journey?
I love this recent customer quilt, it was one of two, this one has such a fun colourful backing.
I spent part of yesterday rearranging some of my fabrics and checking through my collection of solids…what a surprise to realize how much I have accumulated over the years. Some was gifted from a precious friend who has been along my journey for many years making the up coming plans even more fun.
2022 is coming and before I know it will be here, I am considering goals for myself. I not only plan to work with solids but hope to plan a few leader ender projects and see where that takes me. I have always loved scrappy quilts and I certainly have more than enough variety to play.
My quilting journey brings so much to my life!
We have been incredibly spoiled this fall with warm days. A couple of days ago the high was actually 20C which is unusual for this time of year in this area. Now that the October full moon has passed the colder air seems to be upon us at least it sure feels like it this morning! It’s -4C with a feels like -8C…
Liam has been with us this week and I remind him that in a month or two those temperatures will seem warm! Still it sure makes it hard to crawl out of a warm bed in the morning and we will very soon be turning on the furnace.
We have been busy around here getting ready for winter. The gardens are empty and tilled, the pool is covered and parts stored away. It is time to give in and bring the boots in from the shed and tuck away the summer shoes.
Thankfully my quilting keeps me warm and happy. My customer quilts delight me. I love the transformation from top to quilt!
I continue to work away on my Longtime Gone quilt. The most recent block is trip around the world. It was laid out for weeks before I finally sat down and sewed.
This block consists of 121 1.5” squares. I have fun choosing different backgrounds for these blocks.
How bright and cheerful is this quilt! Halina has been making such fun scrappy quilts and this one was no exception.
I chose the pantograph Hearts and Blooms partially because of some of the blooms found in the fabrics but the backing called fo4 the hearts.
The Flamingo fabric she used for her borders is so delightful! It really amazes me with how many quilts that I quilt that I often have never come across many of the fabrics in them also how rare it is to have duplicate quilts to quilt.
This was one of Susan’s first quilt projects that she purchased when she first began quilting. It sat waiting for her to feel ready to tackle all of those half square triangles.
As usual her quilt top was perfectly pieced and a joy to quilt! it was quilted using Bethanne Nemeshs pantograph Feather Grande.
How pretty is this backing!
I don’t know whether I have the name correct or not, however Joan’s quilt reminded me of granny squares. Her colour/fabric choices made for a much more elegant look.
I used the pantograph flying paisley in order to add to the elegance and really love the way that design pops on the border.
How pretty is this backing!
I have had so much fun piecing blocks for my Long Time Gone quilt! It is very scrappy and very bright. I think starting it before finishing my Moda blockheads might have been a mistake because these brighter blocks really drew me in.
A lot of the fabrics are from my stash but many friends have enhanced my scrap collection along the way which will make this quilt so much more special to me. This will be my 2021 quilt and I plan to have the top completed before I allow myself to begin the first Color Collective project…starting November 1st (more on that soon).
Longtime Gone quilt is a pattern by Jen Kingwell that really caught my attention early in the year. I love the variety in piecing and fabrics that are in the quilt.
Happy Thanksgiving!
With the weather being wet and gloomy and being a long weekend weekend I decided to treat myself to some just for me sewing days.
I began the Moda blockhead 3 quilt at the beginning of 2020 and kept up for the most part and enjoyed the challenge of piecing a few new to me blocks. I used fabrics from a few designers and a colour palette that was different than I had been using lately.
These blocks were on my wall far too long to the point of being tired of looking at them, especially with another project getting well under way and needing the design wall space!
Not all blocks made it into the top and now I am at the point of deciding on the border, that may take a little time as I am going to ponder that for a while. Any suggestions?
This month the Thunder Bay Quilters guild is hosting a workshop by Jo Avery
In preparation for the workshop I decided to visit her website and found a tutorial on free hand foundation piecing which looks like fun.
https://joavery.co.uk/2015/02/free-hand-foundation-piecing-tutoria.html
Wendy’s Quilting and Life 