TGIFF! - Heart Strings

This quilt is two years in the making. I first shared the my design process for this top in September 2015. I wanted to do a vertical version of October Sky, but in reds.

Just as I was starting the hand stitching, my mom got very sick. She spent almost two weeks in the hospital and I brought this project along to help pass the time and manage the fear and sadness.

After her stay and all the emotion from that time, I just couldn't work on this project for a while. She's had multiple hospital visits since and each time, I've brought this project along. It's been quite therapeutic.

I finally finished this in the fall. I'm so glad this one is done. It feels like closure on that time.

With all the emotions stitched into this project, the design and the colours, Heart Strings seemed an appropriate name. To me, this is not a happy quilt and I've been reluctant to share it. Given the events of the last few days in the States and in Quebec City last night, I feel like my heart is breaking again so I thought it's time to share the quilt.

Some photos of the details.

I really love the texture of the hand stitch and machine quilting combination. I used 6 shades of red DMC floss and Aurifil thread for the red section and 2 shades of grey DMC and Aurifil thread for the grey background. 

Final size: 30" by 19"

I'll be linking up with TGIFF! later this week.

Hopeful things will get better. Take care! XO

TGIFF! - Badges, Badges Everywhere...

Welcome to TGIFF! You know the phrase about the cobbler’s children having no shoes? Well, my kids’ feel that way when it comes to sewing Beaver/Cub/Scout badges on their uniforms or camp blankets. I am also a Beaver leader so you would think that I’d be all over sewing them on in a timely manner. Alas, they usually have to bug me to sew them on. Now, I think it’s about time my oldest starts sewing his own badges on, so we’ll be working on that.

In the meantime, all three kids have collected a surprising number of badges and crests from their Scouting and sport activities. I have a camp wrap that I sewed my crests and badges on 5 years ago. I’ve had camp blankets purchased for the boys for a few years, but have the badges made it on to the blankets? No. Quilter/leader’s children. Sigh.

Except this week, there was progress! This is Daniel’s new camp blanket.

The other day, he laid out his badges with a few guiding tips from me and I sewed them on. 

I used a zipper foot and moved my needle all the way to the right so that I could sew just along the edge of the badges. The key to not going crazy on matching thread to the different badges? Monofilament thread on the top and a matching thread to the blanket underneath. :)

He’s pretty happy with it and there’s lots of room left for more badges and crests. I’m freaking thrilled that his blanket is off my to-do list! Now just two camp blankets to go and to add on the new badges to my own wrap.

P.S. This week is my 5 year anniversary for the blog! Woo hoo! Stay tuned for a giveaway announcement this weekend...

An InLinkz Link-up

TGIFF! - Quilt Girl Spies a Turtle

Welcome to TGIFF, where every finish deserves a celebration!

Before I get into our party, I have some exciting news!

October Sky won second place in the "Excellence for Original Modern Wallquilts" at Quilt Canada's National Juried Show. Holy crap! Actually, I said something a little more graphic, but it wouldn't be polite to repeat it. ;)

When I think back to my very first quilt, there's no way I ever thought one of my quilts could get accepted at a major show, let alone place. I'm still grinning like a fool about it. :D

Okay, enough about that. It's time to enjoy some finishes!

My quilt this week was barely finished in time.

I've been working on a couple of new projects, but neither are close to being finished so what's a TGIFF! host to do? And so begins our tale:

On Monday, we started planning a baby shower for a colleague and there was my answer. I pulled out one of my wee spy tops, which I sometimes make as a leader/ender project, and found that I just had to add the border! 

Within a few hours, this baby was done! Doing the top as a leader/ender saved me about 2 hours this week (I've done this quilt many times so I know how long it takes me). Sweet!

Love that coral paired with the turtle fabric of the backing. Hopefully my colleague will love it too.

Finished quilt size: 42" by 54"

Phew! I always like a happy ending...

This fabulous quilty comic? Not me. It's fabric! Quilt Girl by Whistler Studios for Wyndham Fabrics. I found it at The Pickle Dish in Carleton Place for you local folks. You are welcome! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Blogger's Quilt Festival - October Sky

It's one of my favourite times of year -- the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by the amazing Amy Ellis.  I'm entering my October Sky quilt into the art quilt category. There are a number of gorgeous quilts already linked up so check it out when you get a chance. Even better, enter one of yours!

My October Sky quilt had quite a journey. It evolved quite a bit from the original design, then there was a lot of deliberation over the colours, and finally undergoing a lot of hand stitching and machine quilting.

The quilting is about 1/8" to 5/8" max. I'm thrilled with the movement that the quilting and hand stitching gives it -- like air currents.

Hope you don't mind a LOT of photos. ;)

This quilt is going to Lethbridge, Alberta for the Quilt Canada 2015's National Juried Show in a couple of weeks. Woo hoo!

Final size: 24" x 44.5"
Fabrics: Kona solids
Threads: DMC embroidery threads and Aurifil (50wt.)

I'm entering this one in the art quilt category.

Happy long weekend!

TGIFF! - Codex

Welcome to TGIFF! It's been a crappy week in the Quilt Matters household so I'm especially glad that it's just about done and I can celebrate something positive. :)

This quilt began as part of two challenges for our local Modern Quilt Guild -- the Block Design Challenge and the Montreal Meetup/Modern Design Challenge. Running out of time but wanting to participate in both challenges, I shamelessly combined the two. ;)

More than most of my quilts, this was a therapy quilt. To me, the lines in it feel strong and hard and powerful -- the opposite to how raw I'm feeling these days. It's not a sweet or joyful quilt. Funny weird (not funny ha ha) how my other 'therapy' quilt Innocence Lost, Courage Found uses the same colours. Sensing a theme...or dare I say series?

As I mentioned in my last post about this quilt, the design feels like it's a code of some sort so I added hand stitching with some embroidery floss in spots to mimic morse code. The machine quilting, done with a 50 wt Aurifil 2460 using a walking foot, adds a crop circle effect, which we all know is a code from aliens from outer space. ;) The quilting is controlled and precise -- again in juxtaposition with how chaotic my life is feeling right now.

One problem I had with this quilt is bearding. Bearding is when the batting comes through the pores of the fabric. I think I may have put the batting on backwards. Oops. I've been using tape and clothing rollers to remove the lint, but as you can see, there's still some bits and bobs here and there. Hopefully it will settle over time and not get worse.

Finished size: 33" by 40".

Did you hear that Sew Sisters Quilt Shop is having a Mother's Day Sale? 20% off yardage on May 10. Who needs flowers or chocolates when you can receive fabric?!

An InLinkz Link-up

TGIFF! - A Place for Each Child...

And each child in his place. That's the idea, anyway. It's been awhile. Sorry about that. There's some not-so-fun stuff going on around here.

Before the not-so-fun stuff started though, I did finish the boys' placemats so that is what I'm going to celebrate today!

Each boy picked out the colours he wanted for his placemat. The two older boys helped with the design and improv piecing. I did the quilting and the binding. Love these collaborative efforts!

Daniel went for a monochromatic look.

Micah (with a little help from Mama) went for these colours.

And chose a Star Wars backing.

Patrick went bold with this colour palette. In making his placemat, we talked about dominant and accent colours for the colour palette. He chose blues to be the dominant colour and red, salmon and purple for the accent colours. The salmon is looking kind of dominant though. I guess the next lesson will be about proportion. Lol! 

Think having these nice placemats will curb dinnertime chaos? Yeah, me neither. But I can dream... ;)

An InLinkz Link-up

TGIFF! - Lunch Bag

Happy Friday, all! I did get in some sewing this week and managed to finish this lunch bag. It uses Ayumi @ Pink Penguin's fabulous lunch bag tutorial. The fabric is Rashida Coleman-Hale's Washi line.

I've made this bag many times before -- here, here, here, here, here and here -- and I love trying to find a good fabric combination. This is the first time though I made this bag for me! On Tuesday, I will be starting a new professional adventure and returning to the federal public service. Yes, big changes are coming for the Quilt Matters household. I'm very excited and very nervous! Very, very nervous. Deep breaths. :)

We're heading into the Labour Day weekend here, hoping to see some hot air balloons and spend some time with family. I hope you have some great plans of your own!

It's TGIFF! is over at Ms. Midge this week. She has a beautiful quilt made using the Quick Curve Ruler -- gotta find me one of those!

TGIFF! - Scrap{Bee} 2.0!

If you haven't had a chance to enter the Sew Sisters Quilt Shop giveaway yet, you can do so here. It's sew sweet!

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Also, I'll be teaching another Free Motion Quilting Sampler workshop on Thursday, May 22nd at The Country Quilter in Richmond, Ontario from 10-4 p.m. There are only a few spots left. Very exciting!

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On to the main event! Scrap{Bee} 2.0 is done! Woo hoo! The silver lining of having a cold last week was that I felt totally fine just sitting my butt down on the couch and finishing the binding, while watching movie after movie.

This quilt was started with my Don't Worry {Bee} Happy bee in 2012-13. I wanted to challenge myself to use my more traditional fabric scraps in a modern design. Thank you, thank you, thank you to my bee mates for making most of the blocks:

Katie @ There & Back
Charlotte @ Twelfth Zodiac
Chelsea @ Pins and Bobbins
Elyse @ ElyseSusanDesign
Alisha @ A Squared Craft Affair
Marian @ LookWhatLadyFaceMade
Heather @ Winding Bobbins
Rebecca @ Sew Festive
Bianca @ Sweet Diesel Designs

Previous posts about this quilt and how I made it can be found here, here, here, and here.

The full frontal:

Each coloured square is quilted with a different motif in the coordinating colour. The background was improv quilted using a cream coloured Aurifil thread (thread colours below).

The backing is pieced with scraps from the front and some beige yardage from my stash.

As I've mentioned before, this quilt has been a test at almost every step of the way, but I've learned so much and tried some new things throughout the process:

• First time doing improv piecing.
• First time using Essex Linen. Definitely pre-wash!
• First time finishing the quilt top and then taking it apart again to change the layout. 
• First time trying this binding technique (Thanks Heather!).  
• This design does not use as many scraps as I was hoping it would and way more Kona neutrals. LOL!
• Use colour catchers for blocking a quilt too, not just for washing the quilt once it's done. SprayNWash OxiAction worked though. Phew!
• Essex linen is thicker than Kona, but it is only noticeably so in the binding where it is doubled. 
• This quilt really drove home the point that the quilting can really shrink the size of the quilt so take that into account when making your quilt top. It was 93" square before quilting and now it's 86.5". There was a little trimming to square it up, but that's crazy shrinkage!
• First time doing an indoor photo shoot using lights and a tripod, as recommended by Maria Elkins' tutorial and the Shoot That Quilt! site. Getting better!

Fabrics: Colours - scraps, Neutrals - Kona Parchment, Raffia, Bone, Oyster, Ivory, Natural, Cream, Eggshell, Champagne, Putty, Tan, Wheat, Sand and Essex Linen. Backing - Scraps

Thread: Aurifils 2000, 2314, 2140, 4093, 1243, 1320, 1135, 2581, 2740, 2460, 2870, 5017, 2875, 5124, 1104, 1100, 2885, 1240 and Gutermann 2626

Batting: Hobbs Heirloom

Finished size: 86.5" by 86.5".

Now I have a quilt for our guest bed. Who's coming for a visit? ;)

This is also my first finish for my Q2 FAL goals. :)


Linking up with Laura at Quokka Quilts for TGIFF! Come join us!

TGIFF! - Innocence Lost, Courage Found

Riddle me this: A woman is in a completely bricked-in room. On one wall, there is a large mirror, but there is no door. There's a bench in the middle of the room. She's a clever one though and she got out. How did she get out? Answer at the bottom. Hint: Think math.

I started this quilt a few weeks ago using the Fibonacci sequence up to 13. I worried that it felt too simple. You assured me that it wasn't. Thank you!

I took your advice and stayed simple with the quilting too -- lines every 1/2" -- but for each stripe I quilted the addends (I looked up the term) from the sequence in the opposite colour. Eg. for the red stripe that is 5" wide, I quilted 2 white lines along one side and 3 white lines on the other. I filled in the rest of the stripe with matching red lines.

I also decided to learn how to piece the binding to match the stripes. Yay! Lessons learned -- use the quilted top measurements not the original unquilted top measurements. I had to redo a number of seams because the stripes were smaller once quilted. Seems obvious now, I know. LOL!

The back is just a simple white backing. 

I won't talk too much about the name, except to say that the colour choices were deliberate and reflect the name for me. The optimist in me can't leave it at that though so while the red was chosen for its negative meanings, it was also chosen because it means courage. And the reciprocal nature of the design means that the red flows back to the white too. Same idea with the name. :)

Finished size: 41" by 65"
Fabric: Kona White and Kona Wine

Batting: Hobbs Heirloom - 80/20

Thread: Aurifil 2021 and Aurifil 2460

Linking up to TGIFF!, which is over with Leanne at Devoted Quilter.

Answer: She broke the bench in half because two halves make a whole (hole). ;) Happy Friday!

TGIFF! - March Break Madness

I was planning on sharing my finished Luscious Columns quilt today, but we finished Daniel's Wee Spy quilt!

I have to admit that when we began last weekend, I was sure this was going to end up as a WIP. He surprised me though. He was determined to finish it.

For the quilting, I had pulled out some variegated yellow thread that I thought would match his quilt (and that I hoped we could use up!), but he wasn't having any of it. He pointed to a spool of yellow polyester Aurifil thread (#5222) and said "that one looks like gold." Okay, Rumpelstiltskin. Even my kid prefers Aurifil. LOL!

He is so excited about his quilt!

Look at that grin! There's son #3 doing his best to photobomb.

He especially loves this bulldog square for some reason:

I am less enamoured with the bulldog.

Trying to get clear photos of this quilt was a challenge. We tried this:

Then this:

Then this:

And this:

Playing I Spy

Finally, I snuck out of the house with it while they were playing mini sticks.

Daniel's March Break Madness - Front

Darn tree shadows!

Daniel's March Break Madness - Back

Oh well, you get the picture, right? Ha ha.

His finished quilt measures 44" by 50".

It was so much fun seeing the quilting process through his eyes. I'm so proud of him. :) He's already picked out the colours he wants for his next project. A placemat. Phew!

I'm now contemplating Purl Buttons advice to Hide.My.Stash! :)

An InLinkz Link-up