A Work in Progress

Scroll down, I've been working on it!

June 19, 07
It is soooo hard to sew at this time of year. As nice as my new sewing room is, it is still in the basement and I can't see outside. But I have to be diligent and get this thing done for fall. So here is where it is at. It doesn't look like much, and there is not that much to do, theoretically. It is for my Quilt in a Day project. So I thought if I posted it, maybe that would spur me on to work on it. Even if the garden does need to be weeded...







As you can see, it is no small task.




June 27, 07
Ok, ok - it took a few days but I finally made it downstairs and spent some time quilting. Not a lot, but then, I don't need to do a lot. I didn't add up the time I spend sewing the blocks yet, because the phone kept ringing and I couldn't get a decent chunk of time in. Sewing is one thing you can't do while you are on the phone. Ironing yes, sewing no.
So I worked for a bit, seems to me it was about an hour and made these blocks. Then about 40 minutes later I had them sewn into strips. Then I had to quit because it was so flipping cold in the basement I had to come upstairs and warm up. Besides, it was time to think about making supper. View the completed top here.
So it was a good day. Less than 2 hours on the quilt, and I still managed to get a ton of weeding done. There is always weeding to do. Always. Well, except when there is snow on the ground...

UFQs (Unfinished Quilts)

Well, some of these are unfinished and will stay that way, some I am working on, and some I just plain forgot I had begun!


This Three Little Piggies quilt is my own design entirely, and it was a very good lesson in value of prints. Because so many of the fabrics are medium and medium dark, the lovely apple tree blends too much into the house and the bricks are a little wild! Did you notice the wolf's tail peeking out from behind the house? This quilt looks much nicer in the photo than in real life! It is about 2' x 3', unfinished.



I loved this pansy fabric and tried to use it as the focal print in this quilt. Yikes. What I thought were medium tone fabrics actually turned out to be darks and while I had good contrast in some spots, the overall effect was quite harsh. Another lesson learned the hard way. Maybe one day I will finish this, but it is only about 4 ' wide and I can't see it ever being a nice quilt.









I love the garden trellis look. I made this so long ago I do not remember my inspiration. But the overall effect is really nice. This is just a little practice piece about 12" x 18", and includes some fabrics I dyed myself.








How can you not love Snail's Trail? It draws your eye from one place to the next and the pattern just pops out at you. The interesting thing about making it is that you don't see the pattern at all until you put the blocks together. As you can see, there are black and white blocks and dark/light blue blocks. The swirling pattern develops when they are placed side by side. I just had to make a little something with it when I discovered it, but can't imagine making a large quilt with it.
If you squint at the picture, you really get a sense of the swirls. This piece is about 12" x 16".

Finally, a quilt I am working on. The top is done, I just have to quilt it. This design is from Barbara Johannah's book called Crystal Piecing (Chilton 1993) and like the Snail's Trail, I just had to try it.

The colours are not too clear, it is a lovely black with gold pattern for the background fabric, and the rings are taupe and an olive green. It is a lap sized quilt, or could fit a twin bed.

Barbara Johanna has been a great inspiration to me - she thinks like I do and invents her own way of doing things. This quilt was easy and turned out well, it just looks distorted because of how I have it taped to the wall! I am working on another one of the same pattern with bigger blocks in pinks and blue. Watch for it by the end of the summer. It is one I am considering for my Quilt in A Day Marathon workshop.
Update August 07 - After making two in this pattern, (this was plan B) I had to choose a quicker pattern. View plan A here (sampler), plan C here (windmill), and plan D (Irish chain), the final choice here. Yep, don't like to sew in summer, and I end up making 6 quilts. Well, they are not all finished, but none the less, I spent a big chunk of time in the basement. And I will finish them......


Quilted projects

Not everything that is quilted must be a quilt! Here are placemats I made for Neil & Meghan to match the art in their dining room (from Bombay) and their dinnerware. Thanks for the pictures, Meghan.


This is a little placemat or table runner I made while showing Janice how to do quilt-as-you-go with some blocks I had from a block swap. It measures about 12" x 18".




I made this vest about 8 years ago. I love it because I can wear all of my favorite colours with it: purple, green, black, white and even pink. The miniature Ohio Stars from the front are echoed in a large one on the back. I thought this would be a weekend project but took much longer to piece (and had many more pieces) than I originally thought it would.


Here is a perfect example of how NOT to store a quilted item. It has been folded in half, sitting on top a china cabinet with the sun hitting the fabric where it is exposed in the winter. You can see how it is faded along the fold. Rats. The green in this is the same fabric used in Samantha's quilt. There is also some of it in my vest, and in my Three Little Piggies quilt on my UFQ page.

Treat your quilts with care. This is only about 25" square. It cannot ever be restored to a nice condition! If it was a full size quilt, that would be a real shame.

Wedding Quilts



I have only made two quilts for wedding gifts, one for each of my sons and their brides. A picture of Scott and Tara's is on the way. This is a pic of the cake I did for Kelly and Matt on June 2nd.






Neil and Meghan's is not actually a quilt, but a duvet cover for a king sized duvet. It is a little big for their current bed, so a good chunk of it is hanging over the edge, out of view. Here is a draft picture of the entire quilt, made with little pieces of fabric I used in my planning stages. You can see I changed the pattern a little from inception to completion, as I could not get enough of one of the fabrics.



Scott and Tara's Quilt.... Tara wanted a black and ivory quilt so this is their quilt. It looks simple enough but has about 1000 pieces.
I found the colours plain to work with, but the end result was quite stunning.
Thanks for the picture, Scott.

Other Quilts

After seeing a jigsaw pattern at my favorite local quilt shop, Quiltessential I was inspired to make this quilt for my mom. The original pattern is by E Quilt Patterns, you can see my inspiration at their site. I even quilted it using a jigsaw puzzle pattern, see the detail picture close-up to see what I mean.







A little fun - if you want to check it out, here is why I made this quilt. A little "While You Were Out" type of thing. Thanks Jim for the website.
This is not actually a quilt, but a pieced duvet (doona for my Aussie friends) cover.




This is a birthday quilt I made for Tara, featuring footprints (Bear's Paw pattern) in recognition of her studies of the genetics of the weasel family.



Right now I am working on designing a course for a Quilt in a Day workshop. This one is a sampler style that was a little too ambitious, so I have to re-do the whole thing with another pattern. Nice effect overall, but I didn't plan on a 24 hour day!

I will be doing the Quilt in a Day course in November 2007 through Sturgeon County Community Programs. To find out more, visit their website and click on Community Programs. (The course will not be listed until late summer.)

Meghan's Quilt, made to commemorate her graduation from U of A. She had picked the pale green earlier and we could not find anything we liked to coordinate with it at the time.

This quilt was made with fabric my mom picked up in Fiji in 1957 and just had sitting around, not sure what it might be good for as the colours are sooooo bright! I figured about all I could safely add was black and white.


Neil's quilt, made with one of my favorite patterns, Bear's Paw. It is well used! Just what I like to see - that's what quilts are for.

Charity Quilts

I have made several quilts and donated them to fundraising events for the Lurana Shelter in Edmonton. Sadly, I cannot find pictures for some of them, but here are some photos of three of them.
If you bought the beautiful butterfly one I made, I'd love to have a picture of it! This little clip is all I have.



The picture does not do justice to this I Spy quilt with almost 100 fabrics. It does not accurately reflect the colour wheel effect as the colours are not true, but you get the idea I hope. This is a crib sized quilt.






The bold colours in this tumbling block quilt were chosen to highlight the 3D effect. It is made with a modified pattern, using no diamonds at all. It was a snap to sew. This too is a crib quilt and I hope some little guy is cuddling under it.


This is my most recent charity quilt, finished in the spring of 2007 for the Franciscan Sisters Benevolent Society Avenue of Hope Gala. It is made with fabrics purchased in support of breast cancer research and fits a twin bed (shown on a double bed). I also made a matching pillowcase and throw cusion for a complete ensemble. I was really pleased with this one and hear it was a popular item at the silent auction.



I plan to do a blue one for the fall, if all goes well this summer.... there are lots of projects on the burner right now and the garden is calling me.

Quilting Refound

When I did pick up quilting again, I decided to work in smaller sizes and easier fabrics. These ones were made to celebrate the births of two of my nieces. The pink and green one is Samantha's and the teal and white one is Sydney's.











And here is my one attempt at diamonds, at least the cat enjoyed it! Cats make the best critics....

In the beginning

My first ever quilt was a little crib quilt sewn while I was pregnant with our first child in 1979. Simple green and white squares, it has been long gone and I do not have one picture of it.

Raising children and other interests occupied my time until I got ambitious and decided to make a denim quilt for my son Scott when he was in his teens. It is made entirely from used jeans.

That was a quilt of epic efforts, and I once again set quilting aside for a few years. I only have one picture of it - taken in the basting stage. NEVER again will I make a quilt in denim.

Eventually the quilt bug bit again, and I have been quilting sporadically for about 12 years now.

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Thanks for visiting

If you enjoyed my site, I'd love to hear from you. You can leave a comment for all to see by clicking on the comments link at the bottom of each section. If you see a mistake - please let me know! I hope to hear from you soon.

Ann

Contacts:
Sturgeon County website http://www.sturgeoncounty.ab.ca/
Sturgeon County phone: 780 939-4321 ask for Community Programs
Another Quilt in a Day Marathon Workshop will be held March 15, 2008 at the Alcomdale Hall, Alcomdale, Alberta. There will be an orientation evening the Thursday before. E-mail me here if you want any information about the course.


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