Quilt Matters

Friday, 7 June 2013

TGIFF! - A Wee Spy Quilt

Wee Spy Quilt And Bag

If you haven't had a chance to enter my blogiversary giveaway, you have until Monday to enter. :)

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My cousin's Wee Spy quilt is done! Sorry for the blah photos -- it's rain, rain, and more rain around here. For those new to the blog, the Wee Spy is my go-to baby gift. These aren't meant to be precious or heirloom quilts. They are made to keep little eyes interested and to handle whatever a baby can throw at it, burp on it, pee on it...you get the idea.

As with all my Wee Spy quilts, they have a standard size (approx. 38" by 50") and layout, using 48 6" blocks of various novelty fabrics. The novelty fabrics don't coordinate on purpose and are chosen because they have some novelty item on it that would be interesting to little eyes.

I piece the novelty fabrics as leader/enders of my other projects so I usually just need to add the border and a backing when a baby gift is needed. Efficient? Yes!

For the quilting, I simply echo the seam lines on either side using my walking foot.

While each one is made in a standard way, each Wee Spy is unique in the backing and coordinating border colour, as well as which novelty fabrics are included.

I then make a coordinating bag out of more novelty fabrics, the border and backing material and add my little tag so parents get an idea of things they can do with the quilt...other than wrap their bundle of joy in it.

I found the backing fabric at Fabricland last year, I think, and I've been ~~hoarding it since~~ waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. There are moose, beavers, polar bears and some Canadian geese, as well as some maple leaves scattered here and there -- just perfect for the little Canuck that should make her/his appearance towards the end of July.

I'm linking up with the wonderful Laura of Quokka Quilts for this week's TGIFF! Hope you can take some time to check out her ode to Kate Spain and the other fabulous finishes. If you have a recent finish, you are more than welcome to link up as well.

Have a great weekend, all!

Thursday, 6 June 2013

Blogiversary Giveaway

May was my second blogiversary! I really appreciate all the support and kind words you send my way. Your words help motivate me to keep trying new things and improve my skills. So let's have a giveaway to celebrate, shall we?

For this giveaway, I'll be sharing this bundle of goodies:

Yes, those are gardening gloves beside the fat quarters and they are awesome for free motion quilting. A tip from a friend had me trying out a pair of these Gardena gloves on the quilting of Hard Core. Love, love, love these gloves! They fit snugly without getting too hot. The rubber on the palm gives me more grip so there's less strain on my fingers to hold the fabric. They did smell of rubber for the first couple of days out of the package, but they are fine now. Since this is one of my new favourite tools, I'm going to go ~~all~~ mini Oprah on you and share a pair with one of you, in addition to those fat quarters.

To win, just leave a comment letting me know something you've enjoyed about this blog (so I know what to continue doing or do again), whether it's a particular project, my mom made you read my blog, new techniques, my laziness with English grammar, tutorials, etc.

Followers of my Facebook page get a bonus entry so just leave a comment letting me know you follow or are a new follower. The little F icon up on the left hand side bar will take you there if you haven't been there before. :)

This giveaway is open until Monday, June 10 at 6 p.m. EST. I'll pick a winner via Ms. Random Number Generator and notify the winner via email.

No reply bloggers (hint: if you've commented on this blog for anything other than a giveaway and did not received a response, you are a no reply blogger), please leave an email address so I can contact you or I'll need to choose another winner.

Thank you again for all your support and good luck in the giveaway!

Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Works in Progress Wednesday - The Missing In Action Edition

I'm feeling behind on a lot of things and bagged from end-of-year banquets, Beaver Camp, soccer start ups and tournaments, hubster with pneumonia, gardening and too much late night quilting (can there really be too much though?). And the boys have a PD Day this Friday with only two weeks of school left. Yikes! Teachers' gifts! Double yikes!

This all hasn't left much time for blogging, but one thing I did get ready was my second blogiversary giveaway 'cuz ya gotta have your priorities straight, right? The giveaway starts tomorrow so be sure to come back then!

So, what is new on the quilt front?

New Projects:

Wee Spy: One of my cousins is having a bébé. I'm so excited for her! I can't make the shower, but I'm sending along this quilt. I adore the backing print.

Su{Brrr}nova Scraps: This is up on my design wall to contemplate.

Completed Projects:

What the FMQAYG? Revisited: Is done and I hope to be able to share it with you soon.

Current Projects:

Hard Core: This one is done! I'm saving it for next week's TGIFF!, when I host. It'll probably take that long for me to get some good photos of it as I can't seem to get the purple, orange or red right. Here's a sneak peek of the quilting on the medallion.