Introducing my newest quilt pattern -- Montenegro

This quilt was inspired by a Mediterranean cruise.  Our first port of call was Kotor, Montenegro.  I have always been a fan of Bougainvillea in its glorious magenta.  Its contrast against the stone buildings was beautiful and caught my eye.  The beautiful Mediterranean sea with its rich teal was the next colour to inspire me.  Together they sing.

I was introduced to the “Mediterraneo” fabric collection by Art Gallery Fabrics at which point I knew the time for this design to come to fruition was now.  Introducing “Montenegro”, my latest quilt design.  It will  be equally beautiful in a variety of different fabrics so please make it your own!

We took the quilt out for a photo shoot and here are some of the pictures.  Some are better than others.  We were fighting the wind. Now to choose one for the cover of the pattern!  Decisions, decisions.

The pattern will be available on my website this week so please visit my shop here:  https://dayspringquiltcompany.com/shop/ for a downloadable version.

Now I'm going to work on the final edits of the pattern!

Until next time,
Mavis

Hexie Journey

A few years ago in anticipation of hip surgery I decided to attempt my first hexie quilt project. I'm not sure how lucid my thinking was in choosing a project with over 17,000 half inch hexagons but I'm committed to it now (or maybe should be committed 😜). This is a drawing of half of my quilt.

I do enjoy hand sewing especially in front of the TV. But it seems to have taken years to get not that far on the project (step 2 to be exact) but I also have only worked on it in fits and starts.

I got this far before I realized that I wanted a constant colour in the centre section. So out with the purple. It was a bit tricky doing this delicate manoeuvre but I got it done.

Ah yes. Much better.

I've taken this project on two cruises now, one to the Mediterranean and more recently to Alaska. Some progress has been made but not a lot.

 

At some point in sewing these this last week I asked myself, "I wonder if hexies could be sewn by machine using invisifil thread?" So after doing some research online and seeing one video tutorial I decided to give it a try on a test flower.

 

The top one was sewn by hand doing the regular traditional English paper piecing (EPP). The bottom one was my tester done by machine using a small zigzag and invisifil. Nope. Can't live with it. Back to the s...l...o...w sewing. And I'm good with that.

Do you ever think there might be a more efficient way? I always do. I don't always experiment with my ideas but this time I did. This will be a lifetime project and there is no deadline. Filler project. Pour the wine and let's thread a needle. It's a Friday night. I've been on the computer all day and it's time to unplug and slow down.

Until next time,
Mavis

Summer Wind-down and celebration

August flew by and it was a hot one here!   My husband and I celebrated our 30th anniversary on August 20, 2018 by taking our first cruise together to Alaska.  We left from Vancouver and returned to Vancouver through the beautiful inside passage. We spent our anniversary in beautiful Juneau.

 

Beautiful Juneau from our veranda on Nieuw Amsterdam (Holland America).

 We left the smoky BC skies behind and enjoyed some beautiful vistas, fresh air and exercise on the promenade deck (and at the various ports) and some great food.  We would definitely travel with Holland America again.  They are a class act!  From the service, to the food, to the entertainment - it was truly wonderful.
We stopped in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan and cruised through Glacier Bay. In each of the ports we found quilt shops for me and T-shirt shops for hubby.  All of the stores had benches for patient husbands.  We all have our collectibles hey?

 

Changing Tides quilt shop in Juneau 

We wandered with the Nav map until we found Changing Tides, just a short walk from the ship. The thing I first noticed was that the style of quilting patterns was quite different than you might find a bit further south.  Here are a couple of quilts displayed at Changing Tides. This is what I was expecting... lots of picture quilts with wolves and other wildlife.

Our Second port was Skagway and the "Rushin Tailor".  I LOVED this store but didn't come home with any purchases as I just I couldn't decide and pennies are tight.  What I did notice in this store was the beautiful wildflower fabrics.  That's not something that I was aware of in Alaska, that their wildflowers are as famous as their wildlife and glaciers.  Sadly, I regret not picking up some of these wildflower fabric, but I'm guessing I could order from them online if I was really that sad about it.

 

The last quilt shop stop was in Ketchikan at "Whale's Tail" quilt shop.  As this was the last chance to visit an Alaskan fabric store, I did come home with some treasures from here.

What I really liked about the Alaska cruise was that everything was within walking distance from the ship.  We really liked exploring in each port and our Skagway train trip, but have to say that wandering around Ketchikan was probably our favourite.  We only ate on the ship so hubby didn't get to experience his King Crab legs in a local eatery but we're ok with that.  We also REALLY enjoyed the BB King's Blues All Stars nightly in the blues club.  The talent was amazing and we didn't have to fight traffic, pay for parking, or stand in long lines to enjoy a date night enjoying the blues.  Nope.  Just a few minutes in the elevator and we were seated and enjoying the music.

Here are the treasures that I came home with:

Some are gifts for friends and some will find their way into future projects.  Fabric is the best kind of souvenir don't you think?!

It took us a couple of days to get our land legs back but what a great trip.

Until next time,
Mavis

Busy Hands and Grateful Heart

There has been lots happening on the home front since we returned from Quilt Market, not the least of which has been the arrival of some gorgeous wide backs for sale to longarm customers and our Glide thread order. I was taking inventory last night and when I opened box number 3 it contained all my favourite colours from pinks to teals to gorgeous shades of purple. Check these out!

 

I'm hoping to finish uploading the inventory to the website by tonight so you can take a gander for yourself.

We've also added some great notions that we discovered at Quilt Market, namely the Wooly Wonder Felted mats. Have you seen these? The wool ends up taking the heat and shooting it back up to what you're pressing so it's like ironing the front and back at the same time. AND they have a a Big Board size which I scooped up right away because the surface on my Big Board was not great. I bought one extra to sell. And we have some of the table top sizes to sell as well.  They will be on the shop page as soon as these fingers can get them loaded.

 

Big Board Version - I love it!

 

 

13 1/2" X 13 1/2" Table top version. Perfect for beside your machine.

Lastly, we decided to source out some wide backing.  I always seem to stall after the quilt top is sewn due to lack of backing.  There must be others like me!  So we decided to start with two colours to see if there's a demand for it.  The quality is great and the colours are very vibrant.  We haven't added these to the shop page yet and are still pricing it all out for you but if you would like to add it to your long arm quilting order please call or email me and I will let you know pricing, etc. This is the sneak peak...

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Yummy right!? 108" wide. Just two bolts for now...grey & teal

 

That's about all the excitement I can share at the moment.  Check back to the website often and I'll try and post to instagram and facebook when the shop is completely updated.

Enjoy the sunshine and I'll talk to you all later!

Mavis

Quilt Market 218

I'm home from my first Quilt Market.  What an experience!  I really didn't know what to expect or how it would impact my business.  I was exposed to all the fabric designers and distributors, a lot of sew-lebrities, so many beautiful quilts, some notions and came home with a whole lot of inspiration.

 

I had the pleasure of taking a class with Ebony Love on blog revival.

I came home with some gorgeous fabrics for my use in pattern design, and some great tools and notions to add to the site for sale.  I've heard other quilters mention these wool ironing mats.  There was a booth dedicated just to them at Quilt Market.  I bought one for my big board ironing board and a few for sale.  These will be added to the online shop shortly!

 Wool ironing mats! Very cool.

It was a great first exposure to the industry and I'm so thankful for the opportunity!

Thanks for reading and we'll catcha later after I go and put away some gorgeous fabric!

Mavis

City of Gardens Quilt Show recap

This past weekend my guild, the Victoria Quilters' Guild held their bi-annual quilt show at the Pearkes Arena here in Victoria.  I worked Friday and was chomping at the bit to get there after work on Friday for the last hour of the show.  I had heard from one of my friends via text earlier in the day that I had won a second place ribbon.  When I picked myself up off the floor, I knew I had to get there pronto to see for myself! 

It turned out to be a second place in the group category for a quilt started by my friend Linda Moran who pieced most of it.  She didn't want to finish it and gave it to me to finish. I felt it should be entered in the show.

Some of you will recognize this pattern immediately as being Bonnie Hunter's "Grand Illusion".  Linda chose these gorgeous batiks so all the hard work was done.  She did an amazing job of piecing the blocks.  I finished assembling the rows and did the border then my daughter and I quilted it with  my APQS Millenium. And this is the result:

Here are my other three entries:

Spanish Rose (Bonnie Hunter/Quiltville pattern)

Two Fabric Bargello

En Provence (Bonnie Hunter/Quiltville pattern)

This quilt, made by Jay Boulet, won 1st prize in its category, PLUS viewers' choice first place, PLUS the CQA Ribbon. Way to go Jay!!!

And my friend Mae won third place in the Viewers' Choice category for her Under the Sea:

Mae is in black, standing with Gail from Bib n Tucker who provided the prize for the third place winner.  Mae went home with a gorgeous assortment of batiks. Congratulations Mae!

So much inspiration in one location!  I have some new ideas floating around and will soon have a retreat to roll up my sleeves and get sewing on.  I can't wait!

Until next time!

Mavis

Binding and Boasting

When the production line of long arm quilting is moving at a fast pace, it doesn't take long for the binding pile to look larger than life.  So, the last couple of weeks I've been focusing on finishing the binding on some of these.  Some were large, some small, some keepers, some charity quilts.

Here are a few which are now in the 'done' pile.  Happy dance !!

This is Spanish Rose and was our quilting cruise pattern from Bonnie Hunter.  I think she did a fabulous job with her friend Irene of pulling this together when she was made aware that sewing machines would no longer be available on our cruise.  This meant a whole new pattern development for her.  

This is called "Creamsicle" and is a donation baby quilt to the Victoria Guild.  They supply the NICU at Victoria General Hospital.

This is another baby quilt which is being donated by me to the Victoria guild for the NICU.

Binding in process.

 My daughter created this quilt for a friend batting cancer.  I bound it for her while she was out of town.

 This is "Grand Illusion", an orphan quilt started by my friend Linda.  She couldn't finish it and thought because of my love for Bonnie Hunter's patterns that I would like to.  So I finished the quilt top and quilted and bound it.  I'm entering it into the Victoria Quilters' Guild quilt show at the beginning of May.  I just need to add a hanging sleeve and it will be ready.

This was a quilt kit from the Victoria Quilters Guild that I took home to quilt and bind.  This photo doesn't show the bound quilt but this was in the pile I referred to and I'm happy to say it's ready to be returned to the guild next time I can make a meeting.

This is "Grand Illusion" another Bonnie Hunter Quiltville mystery quilt.  I finally finished it, quilted it and bound it.  I only had the hanging sleeve and it's now done!  One by one they are all getting done!

It's been a busy few weeks but it's so encouraging to actually finish things.  I'm anxious to finish piecing my On Ringo Lake so I can get it on to the binding pile.  That's the update!   Thanks for reading.

Until next time!

Mavis

Third Winter...

...or so it feels.  It has been a tough winter in some ways but in other ways very mild.  I don't recall any transit buses sliding down our hill this winter as they did last year, but it sure seemed to last forever and it's still cold despite the fact that Easter weekend is upon us.

Why am I telling you this? I don't really know other than to say I'm so excited that Spring is here.

I haven't been as productive as I normally would be during a long cold (albeit not white) winter.  I put it down to get acquainted with my APQS Millenium longarm.  It has been such a fun journey and continues to be.  That and also lots of cuddles with my adorable grandson who arrived July 30th. There is NOTHING like being a grandma.

Anyway...I'm happy to report that I have now finished the Grand Illusion quilt that I referred to in my last post.  I've been doing some binding in the evenings in an attempt to tame the pile.

I'm entering this quilt in our upcoming quilt show in May and it will be for sale.  I was unsure what to do with this finished orphan but I feel that it should be offered to someone else.  It will be a nice influx of cash that I intend to share with the friend who gave it to me to finish.

I also finished a baby quilt last night.  This one will be donated to my guild who supplies the NICU at our hospital with baby quilts.  It is a very OLD UFO and I'm happy that it's both out of the UFO pile, and off the binding pile.  It feels so good to finish something!

This was the first quilt I quilted on "Millie".  This is before we learned Quiltpath, the digitized quilting software so this was just free motion to get a feel for the machine.  And we are in love!  What a beautiful longarm.

So, along with celebrating the arrival of Spring, I'm also celebrating a couple finishes.

Until next time...let's go find some plum blossoms!

Mavis