A completed table runner!

Hi everyone, 

I have another finish to share. 

I finally finished this blue table runner that I started in October 2017. 

I quilted it yesterday and finished the binding today. 

I love how it turned out. 

I free motion quilted it on my domestic machine. 

This was made from scraps from my stash. 

I picked a dotted fabric for the backing and I really like it. 

A finished scrappy table runner!

Hi everyone, 

I did some quilting and hand stitching binding today.

It allowed me to finish this scrappy table runner.

I started piecing this table runner in June.

It is all hand pieced from a kite shape. 

I did not use English paper pieces. 

Just old fashion tracing of a template, cut it out the pieces with scissors and used a quarter inch seam to piece the shapes together. 

Here's a picture below of some of the piecing I did in Cuba on my holiday. 

I decided to use a large floral print for the backing.

I free motion quilted in on my Janome 1600p-db sewing machine. 

I really love how this table runner turned out. 

This one is mine and I'm keeping it. 

I hope you like it too.

Linking with:

Moving it forward
Oh Scrap!
Main Crush Monday!

My Scrappy Sampler quilt is done!!

Hi everyone, 

I have another finished quilt to share with you. 

It's my Scrappy Sampler quilt.

I'm really happy with this quilt. 

This is my original design. I used all fabrics from my stash for the front and the binding.

The backing fabric is a wide backing that I purchased at a local quilt store. 

I quilted it on my Janome 1600p-db sewing machine with an all over swirl design. 

This quilt is a large twin size finishing at 76"x92". 

I'm excited to have it done and to be able to catch-up on some other projects that I've started. 

I hope you like it!! 

Linking with

Can I get a Whoop Whoop!

My finished Buttermilk Basin Mystery 2016 BOM quilt

Hi everyone, 

I did it! I have a finish. 

I didn't know if I would get any of my projects done this month with a new puppy. But I managed to squeeze some time here and there to get it done! Yeah!!!

 Here's a photo outside on the snow. 

Here's a photo taken indoors. 

I hope you like it! 

Thanks so much Stacey @ Buttermilk Basin for sharing such a beautiful pattern with us. 
 

 

A table topper finish

Hi everyone, 

It's been such a busy time around here. I did get a chance for a little bit of sewing today. I made a diamond star table topper. 

It's a cute little table topper made using the sidekick ruler by Jaybird Quilts. 

I bought this ruler on Friday of last week at my LQS. 

I really like this ruler and I think I will use it a lot. This table topper was made as a gift for my Mother-in-law's friend. My MIL had been sick since the beginning of the summer. And had been off work all this time. She didn't have much money for gifts to give, and asked me if I could make a few table toppers for her to give a few special friends who helped her while she was ill. 

This is the first of the table topper I've made for her. I may make a few matching mug rugs to go with it. 

Another thing I used on this table topper is a Westalee ruler foot and ruler. I purchased this several months ago but never tried it until now. I thought it would be hard to get used to, but it was really easy. 

I only used the foot when I used the ruler and switched to my regular free motion foot to fill in with quilting. I did the quilting on my old Kenmore machine. 

This machine actually belongs to my MIL. She lets me use it for quilting. None of my other machines handle free motion quilting well. But this one is a workhorse.  

Hope she likes it. 

 

Puppy quilt for Zeus

Hi everyone, 

We are getting a new puppy on Dec. 9th. 

He's a golden doodle. 

My husband really wanted a new dog. A male dog that could be his dog. 

We had to put down his last dog Ozzy because he had cancer. My husband really missed having another dog. 

We do still have a female labradoodle named Zoey. She is 10 years old. She's my dog. 

So, we found a little male puppy for him. He asked me to make a quilt for him. I told him we should wait until he's grown out of the chewing stage and we have him trained. But he was insisting. 

So, I made a simple quilt out of fabrics that I've had in my stash for many many years. These are not great quality. But there perfect for a little dog. 

I even put his name on it. 

I free motion quilted it. I had fun with this and used up thread from a bunch of spools that were really low on thread. I love emptying a spool of thread. 

Here's a picture of me with our little puppy. Zeus is only three weeks old in this photo. We go see him again tomorrow for a visit. I'll bring him his quilt. He will get a chance to try it out. 

 

 

The family cottage quilt

Hi everyone, 

I finished a quilt today. 

Many years ago my Mom embroidered some cottage blocks for a quilt. 

Each block has the name of one of my brothers or sisters and their spouse. Plus she named each cottage with something to represent the couple. 

You may notice that there are twelve blocks. Well I have 10 brothers and sisters. Eleven children are in my family. The twelfth block is my parents. 

 

It's not a very big quilt. 

But I think it's great!

I sashed the blocks, quilted it and bound it. This will be one of the gifts I give my parents for Christmas. 

Don't worry, they don't read my blog. So it will still be a surprise. 

I'm happy with this finish. 

Hope you like it! 

 

It's done!! Yeah!

My hexagon star quilt is done and on my bed.

I'm so excited. I started this project in February 2009. I took many long breaks from it because life got complicated at times, especially when my husband had his motorcycle accident. 

This quilt was hand pieced the old fashion way. I used a cardboard template and traced it on my material and cut it out with a sizzor. The original pattern was too small for our big mattress so I had to make a lot more stars and add a border. The original pattern didn't have a border. 

When the top was done, I noticed it was not flat. There was no way I was taking it apart. So, I just basted it the best I could and quilted it. The quilting really helped flatten it. There are puckers and I went off my lines here and there. I did quilt it on my kenmore machine that's about 50 yrs old. It was not easy to quilt as it's 92 inches by 115 inches.

I love it! 

It's totally my style. 

Scrappy!! 

Imperfectly perfect! 

I hope you like it too!

Hey, I finally have a quilt for my own bed!! Yeah!!

 

I'm done the quilting!

Hi everyone, 

I finally finished quilting my hexagon star quilt! Yeah!!!!!

I only have the binding left to do. 

I'm so excited!!! 

 

Free motion quilting and a workshop!

Hi everyone, 

I'm still trying to finish quilting my hexagon star quilt. I quilted all the white part, all the borders, and now I'm quilting the stars. I have about 1/3 of the stars quilted. I've spent about 25 hours quilting it already. It is a big quilt and there's a lot of quilting to do. I'm loving it though. I'm so glad I'm keeping this one for myself. It will be beautiful when it is all done. 

I also attended a workshop and trunk show last week.

Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts, came to our guild and gave an amazing trunk show. 

Her quilts are so fun, and beautifully made.

I bought 6 of her patterns. 

I just couldn't resist. Haha!

The following day, I took a workshop with her. 

We had a choice of 6 patterns to make, and I chose the black birds quilt. 

I made 8 blocks during the workshop. 

They are so adorable. Lorna was very helpful with all the students. She's a great teacher and I would recommend you taking a workshop with her if you get the chance. 

I've made a few more bird blocks since the workshop, but I'm trying to finish quilting my hexagon star quilt. So most of my time has been devoted to that. 

I hope all the Canadians had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. 

I know I did!! 

Free motion quilting..

I decided to free motion quilt my hexagon star quilt instead of hand quilting it.

I just find hand quilting takes too long.

I've been working on this quilt long enough and I want to get it done.

I love free motion quilting.

Unfortunately, I don't have a long arm, or mid arm.

My regular sewing machine, an Elna Lotus that my mom gave me is great for piecing, and mending clothing.  But it is terrible for free motion quilting.

I tried it, then I tried my vintage singer, and then I finally asked my Mother-in-law if I could borrow her vintage kenmore sewing machine. 

I've used it before for free motion quilting.

It works beautifully.

I don't have a big quilting bed to sit it in, so that's a bit harder.

But, It has perfect tension, the thread doesn't break every two seconds, it has a super strong motor.

I wish I had a better set up, but, that's life right.

It's getting done, and that makes me happy. 

I'm linking with Sew Fresh Quilts
https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/2016/10/lets-bee-social-145.html?m=1

Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2016

Hi everyone, 

I have just finished this quilt this afternoon. This one has been in my UFO pile since March 2011. I'm very excited to have it all done. This is a sweet baby quilt sampler that I designed. I used the fabric itself as the inspiration. 

I free motion quilted this on my domestic sewing machine. I have an Elna Lotus machine that my mom gave me a few years back. It's a great little machine, but it hates free motion quilting. I made it work, and got it done though. 

This quilt is 37.5 inches wide by 43.5 inches long. I backed it with a super soft flannel. 

I'm so glad to have this UFO off my list. Now, I have a finished baby boy quilt ready to go in case I need a gift. 

I'm entering this quilt in the Small Quilt Category of the Bloggers Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side.

Three small finished projects

This week I finished two mini quilts. Both of these mini quilts were UFO's. The first quilt is a tulip quilt that I started in April 2011. It just needed to be quilted and bound. Here it is.

I struggled with the quilting a bit because my machine was acting up. But I got it done and I'm happy about that.

The next little quilt is really a placemat. I made a pink one last February as part of the RSC15. I had made the quilt top but never shared it on my blog after that. Here is my finished blue placemat.

I love how this placemat turned out. I again had difficulty quilting it because my sewing machine is acting up. It keeps skipping stitches and breaking threads. I think I might have to bring it in for servicing.

My Mom moved to town last summer and I've helped her make a few small sewing projects. One of these projects is this table runner. The pattern came from the magazine Primitive Quilts and Projects Winter 2015. She did all the wool applique and embroidery and I quilted and bound it for her.

 

 

Surprisingly, my sewing machine didn't have any difficulty quilting this projects. I didn't have any skipped stitches or thread breakage. I was glad since this one doesn't belong to me. My mom was not sure she really liked this one before I quilted it because the original pattern was made on a dark brown background. I provided all the material and wool for this project for her. When I picked out the background fabric, I didn't have the pattern with me and forgot what the background was like. But once it was all quilted and bound she loved it.  I'm so glad. Now she is excited to make another small wool applique project. 

Well, I'm still working on a bunch of project at once. I  get bored sometimes with one project and need to work on something else to keep my mojo going. I hope you like the projects I shared today.

Hugs

Ariane

A mini bear paw finished quilt!

 I have another little finished quilt.

This little quilt top was put together in March 2011.

You can find the original post here.

I decided to use this little quilt top to practice some free motion quilting. 

It's not the best. I should have used different colours of thread.

But, it's really cute and I hung it up on my sewing room wall.

The blocks are just 6 inches.

I also started making blocks for the Farmer's Wife 1930's sampler quilt.

These are my first 4 blocks.

I'm going to try to work on these blocks over the next year.

I hope you had a good weekend.

Hugs

My "Rocky Road to Kansas Quilt" is finished!!!

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all doing well.

Yesterday, we had the Canadian Federal Elections.

I managed to finish quilting this quilt and get the binding on it.

I sewed the binding down while watching the results last night.

The broadcast ended around 1:00 am. 

Just enough time to get the binding all stitched.

So, now this quilt is finally done.

My husband held it up for me to take a picture.

It was very windy though.

I love the way it turned out.

It will make a great lap quilt to cuddle with.

I hope you like it!

Hugs

I'm quilting again......

Today, I worked on a really old UFO.

I started assembling the blocks my sister and my Mom exchanged in May 2009.

You can read more about the exchange here.

I decided to put the blocks together in sections.

I didn't want to have a big quilt in my machine.

So, I'm doing it quilt-as-you-go. 

Quilting each panel of blocks, then putting the panels together to make the quilt.

 I have the first section done. 

The pinwheel block in the center is made by my Mom.

The corner pinwheel blocks are made by the four girls.

I've added some 9 patch blocks that I made around the same time as the pinwheels.

I sashed the 9 patch blocks to make them fit.

So this is my first panel. Yeah!!

I'm glad to finally get these together.

It took me a long time to figure out what to do with them.

The blocks were not all the same size.

I had to figure out a way to put them together that worked.

I think this is the best option.

Hugs 

Maple Leaf Medallion quilt is finished!!

Hi everyone,

Today, I completed my Maple Leaf Medallion Quilt.

This quilt was originally going to be bigger.

But, because I was making this quilt as a gift for my Mother-in-law,

and she likes her things to look a certain way,

I showed her the quilt after I put the log cabin border.

She loved it the way it was, and didn't want it bigger.

So, I quilted it the way it was.

Now, here it is all done.

A close-up of the quilting.

I love the way it turned out!!

Hugs

Quilting....unquilting....

So, I've been sick since last Wednesday.

Not fun!!!

But, I'm almost all better.

Before I got sick, I had started quilting the center panel of my bright color quilt.

I got about a third of the center done.

I couldn't keep working on it because I ended up with a flu virus my son passed on to me.

I didn't quilt or sew on the weekend.

But, on Tuesday I started feeling better.

I looked at the quilting I had done, and I hated it.

I couldn't keep quilting it.

I really didn't like the way it looked on the quilt.

It was taking away from it, instead of enhancing it.

I struggled with what to do.

I decided to rip the quilting out.

This is very, very slow work.

 I have to be very careful not to damage the fabric.

I did quilt the rest of the blocks with a new quilt pattern.

As I remove the old quilting from a block, I quilt it with the new pattern.

It makes me feel like I'm getting ahead.

Here's the new quilting.

 I like this much better.

It's not perfect.

It's more organic!! LOL!!

That's how I will explain it anyways. LOL!!

So, that's what happening over here.

Hugs

Sew Modern Bee Quilt done!!!

Today I finished my Sew Modern Bee Quilt.

I had added a bigger border to the quilt top in order to make this a bed size quilt.

It's now a long twin size.

I'm going to donate this quilt to my Quilt Guild's Community Quilts Project.

Every year this group tries to gather twin size quilts to send to orphanages around Chernobyl, Ukraine.

I thought this quilt would be perfect for that.

I had fun trying a bunch of different free motion quilting designs.

Some I really loved and others....well, they are okay.

The border fabric I had won in a giveaway from Contemporary Cloth and the backing is also from my stash.

I haven't washed it yet, but it should crinkle up nicely!!

I hope you like it.

One more UFO off my list.

And an OPAM finish for May.

Hugs