Saturday, October 10, 2009

Celtic Knot...the reveal

I am extremely happy with my celtic knot king-sized (and I'm talkin' massive!) quilt. Before borders it measures 107". There will be no other borders. I spoke with my long-armer and there is a limit to the width (best not over 110-115" inches). So, the big decision, to border or not to border?? I decided against a border.

I don't want anything to distract from the beauty of the knot. Also with a quilt this size the border would have to be sizeable to look balanced. Besides, 107" covers my bed well with a great overhang past the top mattress. So...decision made. No additional border.

Funny story...I couldn't wait to get the quilt to Arlene for quilting so my DH drove me out after church last Sunday. We were all ooing and awing at the quilt and then Arlene peeps up..."oops". It seems there was a white square where a blue one should be (I'm not going to point it out on the picture...sort of like a "where's Waldo?" puzzle. You can see if you spot it yourself!). Oh dear...back home the quilt top goes where I hang it over the railing and admire it until I can muster the gumption to attack it.

I am now of the opinion that it's a good thing to let your quilts percolate for awhile after the top is done before they are quilted. Here's my reason. One night while I was passing by this quilt as it lay (still) draped over the railing, you know what popped out when I wasn't even looking for it?? Another misplaced colour. I've looked at this quilt hundreds of times and didn't spot the error until I wasn't looking for it. The brain is a fascinating thing isn't it?

Anyway, one of my goals this weekend is to fix these two squares and then on Tuesday evening I will present it at my guild meeting and then give it to Arlene after the meeting. I am going to have it quilted with Fairfield Tuscany Collection batting. I've never used it before and am venturing into new territory. I've always been partial to Warm & Natural but decided that because of the price of this one (something like $30 for a king-sized batting), that I would give it a try.

So, enough talk already...here's the quilt with the booboos still on it. I just love it! Hope you do too.
here it is hanging on the railing:

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Celtic Knot...the finale...

So close...only 1 1/2 chunks left to construct and then I'll try and take a picture of my huge(!) quilt (107.5 inches square is what it should measure) and then I'll upload it.

From what I've seen of the other ones on Lynne's blog (www.lynnesfreshhope.blogspot.com) I'm going to love my quilt. Then off to the long-arm quilter so I can get it on our bed in time for the cooler weather.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Celtic Knot Mystery continues

I have to confess that the monotony of this quilt is getting to me a bit. The big reveal is coming soon as the final chunks will be uploaded from www.lynnesfreshhope.blogspot.com this Wednesday and probably the following Wednesday.

Me? I'm still on chunk 10!! But my friend Shirley, who is joining me on this quilting adventure, taught me a construction technique designed to speed up the sewing of the chunks. I decided if it's the first time I've seen this used, that there are probably countless others who need the same revelation. It's called a "web". I've snapped some photos along the way so this will be a photo essay on how to construct a 'web' which will then become a 'chunk' (in Lynne's language).

Step 1: Layout the squares on a table according to the grid for that chunk. DOUBLE-CHECK the layout. You will be sorry if you don't!

Step 2. Stack each vertical row from top to bottom so you have nice little piles.

Step 3: Pick up the first two piles and sew them together.

Step 4: Add the third vertical row. You will end up with a 'web' once you continue down the piles. Photo here:

See how when you chain piece them together you get little threads connecting the rows? Tada! No way of getting them in the wrong order if you've double checked your layout and carefully stacked your vertical rows.To the ironing board. Iron one row left and the next one right and they should interlock nicely for the horizontal sewing.

Here's a shot with them all done and laid out on the table to do another check before sewing the horizontal lines:



After the ironing, now comes the horizontal sewing. Carefully pin at every intersection so that you have nicely lined up strips. Sew, sew, sew until all the horizontal webs have been joined together.

Here are my finished blocks (not in the finished order) on my design wall (disregard the other quilt blocks (yellow & purple) behind...that's another project which will eventually have a blog entry of its very own.

This quilt is going to be gorgeous! Some of my fellow mystery-ites are doing two in tandem. I can hardly keep up with one! Part of my excuse is that during our heat wave, it was just too darn hot upstairs to sew, even with my friendly fan going. Much more temperate climate now and production is back on.

I have ordered the batting for this quilt ~ it's called "Fairfield - Polyfil Traditional batting". I have a friend going to Oregon who will pick it up for me at Fabric Depot. She happens to also be the one who will quilt it for me on her longarm. Here's a plug: www.onpointquiltingstudio.com. Of course it will have to be king-sized for this huge quilt which will eventually adorn our own bed.



OK...that's all for now. Back to the studio...fire up my Janome 6500 and I'm off to chunk 11...or is it 12?? I got 2 done yesterday. Let's see what today holds.








Monday, August 3, 2009

And another baby quilt finished...



This one has been a long time in the making. The recipient will be a year old on October 2nd! I'm very happy with the end product and took a plunge and quilted it from the back following the pattern of the flowers on the fabric. I still have to work on not getting tangled in the starter thread but I'm pleased overall with the finished quilt. I hope to present it next week at church.

Cochran baby quilt under construction...as is the baby... :o)


Baby Cochran is due in September and I started cutting the quilt out yesterday and worked on some of the applique today. Gordie & Adrienne chose the fabric/colour palette. I added some lights to add a light colour value to the overall palette. Here it is on my design wall:

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Celtic Knot continues...


Chunk #2 done!
Chunk #3 is laid out on my sewing table ready to be stitched together. Loving the look of it so far!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Celtic Knot Mystery - Step 1

Here is my step 1 "chunk" of 9 9-patches. Really enjoyable, easy sewing, effective results. Now I have to wait until next Wednesday for the next one!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Celtic Knot Mystery Quilt - sew-a-long - July 1/09

My sewing group and I are joining Lynne on a sew-a-long mystery starting on her blog on July 1st, 2009. The title is "Celtic Knot" quilt and designed by Deborah Cohen. Thank you to Lynne and the designer, Deborah, for making this pattern available to us.

I have chosen my four colours - red, blue, gold and cream on cream (neutral). I've cut my squares (3") in preparation for July 1st. I'm ready to sew! Would you believe 1,849 squares altogether? Yup! I just finished and my rotary cutter is happy I'm done.

Above is a photo of my colours. The link to Lynne's blog is: http://lynnesfreshhope.blogspot.com/

Sunday, May 3, 2009

F.O.s (finished objects) vs. U.F.O.s (unfinished objects)


This is my year! I'm determined to deal with some UFOs and to go no-buy for 2009 with the exception of backing and batting required to finish UFOs. This means more scrap quilts for 2009. (See Double Delight started on New Years Eve at the beginning of my blog).

In the meantime, I've decided to upload a few of the finished and almost finished quilts.

This first one is one I completed for my DH 2 years ago but never got it photographed. It's called Aunt Betty's Attic.

This next one is a UFO started at Quilting in the Trees, 2008 at Pearson College. The class was taught by Sharon Pederson. I started quilting the quilt but am unhappy with the quilting so it's now waiting for some reverse sewing and then I'll try again.... This one is called Crop Circles.

To Uganda With Love...


Our church sent a team to Uganda to help build a school. I couldn't go but decided that I could send something with the team to represent the love being sent from Canada and specifically our church family. Voila...this quilt was born. I did the blocks in one afternoon, pieced it in about two sittings, including the piano keys border and my friend Terry Banman (also the photographer for the trip) did the quilting. I finished the binding and the label the night before the team was leaving for Uganda. So, the quilt is called TO UGANDA WITH LOVE from the LOJ Quilters...

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Tuscan Hillside - new quilt project

I loved my trailing hearts so much that I decided to use the basic design and explore some different art components. Here is the result:

So these are the basic log cabin blocks under construction.

I also had a friend in Seattle do some embroidered grape clusters for me. Aren't they gorgeous? In this shot, I've got one border on each of the 7" square blocks. Borders are in various batiks (1 3/4" strips all the way round:
The blocks all finish at 10" (mine finished at 9 1/2" after squaring them up). There are also 9 1/2" background blocks cut. The next photo is the basic quilt layout on my design wall:



The next step is the vine in the light part and then clusters of appliqued grapes and leaves. It's coming along just as I pictured it. Very satisfying project for the weekend.

Until next time,
Mavis

Friday, January 30, 2009

Teddy Bears on Parade finished...


Finished a baby quilt for Sebastian and it has now been presented to the handsome little man. Voila! It's called "Teddy Bears on Parade". Hope he likes it and Mom and Dad do too!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Double Delight, Step 2, Day ???

I think I'm back on course for this quilt. I realized I had a baby quilt to finish for presentation at church on the 18th so I needed to take a break from the DD mystery quilt to focus on getting that quilt done.

But tonight is another story! I turned on the TV and started trimming the dog ears off my step 2 blocks and then proceeded to sew the third and fourth sides on the step 2 square in a square blocks. The ironing and squaring up of those babies will NOT be happening tonight!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Double Delight stalled a bit

No further pictures to post on my progress. Hope you can get a visual of the basket of pinks and whites halfway sewn together in strips. I still haven't trimmed the step 2 blocks yet as life got in the way this week. I will reward myself this weekend with some serious sewing time...after sitting so long at the computer doing accounting stuff for the biz I'm ready for some playtime.

I am really enjoying this mystery quilt and am constantly amazed that some of the quilters have not only finished their blocks, but they have finished quilt tops and in some instances finished the whole quilt. I am shocked actually. But I'm in it for the fun. As long as I have all the steps printed out (my fear is that I won't and then I'll be left with no instructions), then I can take it at my own pace. This is supposed to be relaxing and fun, not stressful. I keep telling myself that. And I am enjoying it when I get the time.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Double Delight Mystery Quilt NYE09




Making progress on this mystery quilt from Quiltville/Bonnie Hunter. Attached are photos of my completed stack of block 1, a sample of block 2 and a sample of block 3.

And here's my bin of pink and lights ready to go:

Friday, January 2, 2009

New Year Mystery Quilt - Bonnie Hunter


Well, I'm on day 3 of the Mystery quilt and now have some photos to post. There has been lots of cutting and lots of chain piecing but I am pleased with my colour choices and can only imagine how lovely they will all look in a quilt top. I've done scrappy with the blues and the cheddar/gold and for shirtings I used either tone on tone whites or light beiges which all read approx. the same value under my red mylar sheet so I tried not to be anal about them being all the same. I'm new to scrap quilting.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Dayspring Farm B&B Quilt Retreats

My husband and I have just started a B&B in Victoria, BC, Canada. As a quilter myself, it seemed a natural outcome of this new venture would be weekend quilt retreats. Our website will soon be launched and I will then provide the URL with all the details. In the meantime, check out our fair city through Google and see if you might be tempted to travel out our way to indulge your quilting urges in a beautiful country setting in very nice accommodations.

Happy New Year !!

So how does a quilter begin the new year???

I stumbled upon an online mystery quilt designed and shared by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com. What the heck...you pull fabric from your stash and the fun began on New Years Eve. No shopping. Sounds like a plan!

The humble beginnings have yet to be photographed but the colours are lovely with great contrasts and the rotary cutter has been busy.

Photos to follow soon!