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Another gorgeous quilt, this one showcases the Northern lights. Using the pantograph Kindling added movement to the lights along with variegated thread to help highlight all of the colours.
I used black Hobbs 80/20 batting.
Trimmed and ready for binding, the backing is just also a treat for the eyes!
Well the month has begun in the deep freeze! The feels like temperature this morning when I woke was -42C. I am extremely happy to be able to be at home all day today!
January was an extremely full and busy month and I am so grateful for all of the people who entrust their quilts to me to help complete. Other than finishing my Longtime Gone quilt top and a little sewing on Mondays at the Rec centre most of the month was spent working on the Longarm.
The Thunder Bay Quilt Guild is gearing up for the long awaited Quilt Show in May so we quilters are all extra busy these days. I am planning to show some of mine and hoping to fit in one or two into my my Longarm schedule. (If you are wanting a quilt done by me for the show please let me know soon as my schedule is getting pretty full.)
On the life side… I enjoyed a full day this week watching Liam and his school team play in a basketball tournament with his Mom 😊
And today marks not only my 37th Anniversary of becoming a Mom …
It is my daughter Sarah’s Birthday!
I absolutely love this quilt pieced by Karen, her use of Ombré fabric for her sun is spectacular and really adds such an amazing glow!
The pattern is from Art Gallery Fabrics and can be found for free on their website. oh I had no idea of all of the awesome patterns offered on their site!
https://www.artgalleryfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/projects.cgi?start=49
We chose the pantograph New Wave to add a little motion and to softly mimic the mountains.
The backing is a beautiful flannel with a soft wilderness look and feel.
Her quilt is trimmed and ready for binding!
The beauty of Karen’s quilt is both in the simplify of piecing along with the perfect placement and choices in her fabrics!
Of course it’s no secret that I love blue so naturally I love this quilt. It was quilted with the pantograph Flying Paisley.
I love the denim like backing on this quilt and the quilting really shows so beautifully on it!
Ready for binding!
This month for the most part was unseasonably warm for winter! It was a fairy easy month with out any heavy dumps of snow and milder temperatures…that is until this week! We have received a brutal reminder that it’s winter!
The cold snap is supposed to last the week. It really does make for great stay at home and quilt weather for which I am so thankful to work from home!
The 3rd Monday of January is considered Blue Monday and if you google it you will find…
“The term Blue Monday was coined by psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall, who worked out a formula to show how the third Monday in January is especially bad. It takes into account factors including the average time for New Year’s resolutions to fail, the bad weather, debt, the time since Christmas and motivational levels.”
Winter is long in North Western Ontario and we often go without sunshine for days on end and when it does appear it means colder weather. There is always so much hype and build up coming into Christmas and yes a few weeks past and being back in routine can cause many to feel down…. A good time to have coffee with friends and to touch base!
I spent my Monday at the Rec centre with quilting friends, determined to finish my Longtime Gone quilt top… also known as long time to make as it’s taken a couple of years to complete…
The borders took some consideration and once the decision was made it didn’t take too long to complete. I was able to get two borders completed and attached at the centre and the third when I arrived home.
Early Tuesday morning I decided to just finish it up. There was one section that bothered me two matching pieces in the checkerboard and a few threads off in my piecing…
I decided not to leave it and found a fun addition to my quilt. This was not my first time replacing a block in the centre of a quilt and my advice is to take your time and be patient…
One last step, was the victory lap! With a pieced border such as this it is a really good idea to stay stitch about an 1/8th of an inch around the perimeter of the quilt. This will prevent the seams from separating.
I am fortunate to spend so much of my time in my studio, where I use really good lighting to keep my space bright and also try to have bright fun personal project to work on when time allows.
This is the latest of Marilyn’s Half Square Triangle quilts! I have had the pleasure of quilting them all for her.
Each half square triangle unit finishes at 2 inches and there are 2592 hst units in each quilt! She told me that she makes 2 at a time and trims them to 2 1/2 inches.
These quilts are a true labour of love and will be gifted to each of Marilyn’s granddaughters!
Her use of value over prints brings luminosity to her quilts! I have a lot of fun looking at all of the different fabrics in each quilt…I haven’t been quilting quite as long as Marilyn has been but I suspect that at some point I to will be able to make quilts like hers!
This is the same backing that was used in a previous quilt of Marilyn’s, it is a perfect choice for such a classic design. As always her quilts are returned to her trimmed and ready for binding.
Let me help you bring your quilting projects to completion!
wendysquilting@gmail.com or call 807-251-4261
A friend and I spent yesterday morning on a fun outing to Donnas quilt shop in Pass lake yesterday. He shop is called Fuelled By Fabric and I have written about her before.
I was on the lookout for a backing for quilt top that I made last year as part of the Color Collective by Tara Faughnan and Sewtopia. The quilt block is named flock and I wanted an interesting backing that would work with both the colours in the quilt top and also birds of some type.
This print is perfect, really so close to what I had in mind!
Last night after turning off the Longarm, I laid the fabric out to see how it would match up when I seam the two pieces needed. Sometimes it requires quite a bit of extra fabric to Mach the print, however not this time! ( this picture actually shows the true colours in the print!)
I have been a quilter for many years and the passion for both quilting for others and for making my own quilts only grows!
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?
Thank you Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl for hosting the 2023 Planning Party Linkup!
After a very busy year Longarm quilting for others and fitting in a little piecing and Longarm quilting for myself… it’s time to reflect on the last 12 months.
My APQS Millenium arrived at my doorstep December 2004! I was so fortunate to have joined a Longarm chat group of others who were also pioneering in this new adventure! Together we shared and taught each other so much.
I began longarming for others that winter and haven’t stopped! In thinking about a word to claim for the year… Gratitude keeps coming to mind.
I am so grateful for the honour and trust others have placed with me to help them to complete their projects! I am thankful for my quilting skills and I love to support and encourage other quilters and to share the skills that I have acquired over the years.
I have completed 2 personal quilts and have some tops ready for quilting.
My favourite finish is the quilt that my Daughter and I collaborated on and made for my sweet Granddaughter! Baby quilt
I loved the fun back of her quilt as much as the front.
My Sunny quilt was completed early in the year other than binding and that was that I just couldn’t settle on what colour I wanted…this month I not only ordered the colour that I decided on but took the last stitch on it yesterday. Sunny Quilt
My Longtime gone quilt is so close to being completed, I am working on the border and plan to have it completed in January. This has been a project that I have savoured and know that I will miss working on it when it’s complete it.
A fun project this month has been dressing my twin dolls. I find it hard to believe that they are about 55 years old. When my daughter said that she would love to have them for her girls I was delighted and happily found patterns and then added little quilts for both.
Also for fun I started playing with making pouches and hope to add some bag making to my skills.
Moving into 2023
I look forward to another year of helping others to bring their quilting projects to completion.
My personal quilting goals include working on more of the Color Collective quilts that I collected in 2022. I have the second top completed and ready to quilt and the third partially pieced.
My challenge will be working with my stash and adding only what I need to complete quilts and projects.
I hope to get back into a regular routine of quilting with my friends at the Rec centre and hopefully finally plan a retreat there that a friend and I have discussed since 2019…
I will be upgrading this site in the coming year as it’s time to upgrade which should be fun and educational 😊
On the life side I do have some personal well-being goals in place… life can get so busy but as I approach a significant birthday in 2023 I plan to greet it at my best and enjoy the ride!!
Wendy’s Quilting and Life 