How a Quilt is born…

 

Journey with me for a moment down a rabbit trail as I trace back from this current project on my design wall to the place where the idea was born or conceived of, as it were, and how it became a UFO.

Ah yes, those blessed UFOs . Just how do they find their way into bags and bins and then get buried on shelves?

In this case it all started when I belonged to a Yahoo group. For those who don’t know what that is, they were the online social connecting place for like minded people pre-facebook. In one of my groups, I joined a ‘swap’ . The idea was to choose a block that would finish at 12″, choose fabric for your block, cut it up and then send it with the fabric to six other people. They would in turn do the same. The end result was these blocks (the bigger ones that are red, white and blue anyway). They arrived already cut and just awaited my stitches to make them come to life . And I got that far. I didn’t want to make a small lap quilt in red, white & blue. What should I do with them?

At that time we had acreage and were operating a Bed & Breakfast in our home. I had already made bed quilts for all the guest bedrooms, but we had a barn.

It was a horse barn but we never had horses, nor were we planning on getting them . I’m not a fan of cobwebs, spiders or mice, so I have to confess I never really explored our barn other than maybe stepping inside. My hubby and kids did but not me.

However I could envision this as a rustic cabin, or a musician’s studio, or a guest cottage to add to our room inventory. We did explore what it would take to create another septic field, another well, zoning bylaws, etc . but alas, it was not to be. That didn’t stop me from dreaming up a quilt idea for the future guest bed that would occupy this space however. But it was just a dream, an idea that never really hatched. That is how the UFO was born. That was in approx. 2011.

Over the years I would pull out the bag with the blocks to see if an idea might spark. Then I would tuck them safely away again when no inspiration was found.

At some point I found this picture in a magazine which gave a sort of framework to what I envisioned for my blocks.

This was in Issue 54 of Quilting Today Magazine.

And now here we are in 2020 and those blocks are still a UFO. However, in the last month or so, I’ve been intrigued by a couple of sampler quilts I found on Pinterest. I can’t say I’ve been a fan of traditional sampler blocks that are equal sizes and set in predictable rows with sashing. But these more random samplers that keep the eye moving on a journey of discovery keep my interested and intrigued.

So where am I going with this story? Today I pulled out the project bag again and happened to have some vacant space on my design wall So I put my blocks up there in no particular order (the picture above).

Then I remembered I still had a bunch more orphan blocks all together in a small container. I decided to dive in to see what I could find that might add some interest to my sampler quilt.

More orphan blocks!

I was looking for blocks that had blue in them, though not exclusively, and red, and decided to add yellow/gold as another colour to try in my sampler. These are all different sizes and they may or may not be added to the quilt. That’s for more playtime on the design wall which could happen tonight when it cools down a bit.

Do you wait for your projects to call to you? I confess that I like working on projects that I’m enthusiastic about. I get bored easily and I’m quite impulsive. That could be why the other projects I’m “working on” have sat on my design wall untouched for weeks while I journey back to the spark of an idea to make a sampler quilt. It just wasn’t time in 2011 but it’s definitely time now!

I’m excited to add some fill in blocks here and there to make it work. It’s not going to be an EQ (Electric Quilt) exercise in drafting it out first. This is just going to be pure design wall, fly by the seat of my pants quilting. And I’m so excited about where it will lead me.

And to my other two projects…I’ll be back. But for now there’s a squirrel that needs my attention.

Until next time,

Mavis

Canada Day sewing projects

My daughter and I spent our Canada Day working on quilting projects. I pulled out a UFO to finish up and she started a new project using a charm pack .

My hubby and son joined us for a salmon BBQ later in the early evening. It was a fantastic celebrationalbeit different than the norm.

Here’s what I was working on:

I plan on adding another row and then some plain squares on each side . I want to elongate it and make it a bit bigger. It’s currently about 45” square.

Here’s what my daughter was working on:

How did you spend your Canada Day ?

Until next time, be kind, be calm and be safe!

Mavis

New Pantograph designs added today

The boredom is real folks. Here’s a little story for you. Prior to starting my quilting business full time I was a legal assistant. I graduated from high school and got my first job at age 17 in a law firm . I actually finished Grade 12 early and had to go back to graduate.

I made $475 per month at that first job. And with that salary came regular rebukes from my boss that I had a head like a rock garden, yet I persisted . The valuable lesson learned was that I indeed am a bit of a scatterbrain and need to write stuff down or it’s likely to be forgotten.

I eventually moved on to a better job, better boss (by far!!) and much better salary . Those were the days of the IBM selectric typewriters with the little ball typeface. Remember those? Well, whenever I got bored I would change the typeface . My boss caught on and asked me one day why I did that? I told him boredom. Rather than making me conform, you know what he said? “I change my pen” . Ha ha!! See we aren’t all that different.

Anyway…..I’m ever so grateful that I don’t have to do all my quilts with just one quilting design . You wondered where this was going no doubt. There are so many designs out there for us to enjoy and incorporate into our quilts. I hope you like these . I’m about to load a customer quilt and utilize this one called “Triangle Meander”. It’s available at Urban Elementz.

These are the others added to my collection today . I’m slowly adding my whole collection. If you mouse over them on the pantograph page you can find the name of the design. If you see one you like when requesting quilting services, please refer to it by name .

“Let it Snow”

“Feathered Mola” set

Ok . Time to go quilt!

Until next time,

Mavis

There's joy ...

I’ve been challenging myself to find joy in the mundane. It’s easy to be joyful which things are going well and lining up to your expectations and desires . But what about when you are thrown a curve ball? I think it’s safe to say that the whole world has been thrown a curve ball this year.

I’ve seen the worst of humanity responding by looting while others are hoarding toilet paper and sanitizing wipes and upselling them . ( I have yet to find any Lysol wipes in any of our stores here.) But I’ve also seen the best of humanity. People are helping their neighbours, talented musicians and singers are sharing their melodies and lyrics with us online, churches are reconfiguring their services to reach their congregations and reaching into the communities with help . And of course there are the sewers who are using those stashes to make face masks, scrub bags and scrub hats for the front line workers. Every one of my quilting friends who is contributing to these projects has expressed the greatest joy at being able to help . That’s how I feel too!

I have been pulling out my fat quarters and enjoying making them into something helpful for someone else . There is lots of joy in my sewing room right now.

I’ve also heard of a resurgence of practical skills with everything from gardening/growing veggies to baking bread . Have you tried to find yeast or flour in your grocery store? I have always loved baking bread and earlier this year I scored a great breadmaker at a garage sale for $2.00 . Since then I’ve been baking bread almost every week. I mix it in the breadmaker then shape the loaf and bake it in the oven. I currently have a loaf in the oven right now and it’s starting to smell pretty good in my house .

New to me this year is the attempt to grow some veggies . I may be known for the calluses on my quilting fingers, but not so much for having a green thumb. But I’m devoting some energy and time to learning some tricks in the hopes that I can develop some skill in this department . I’m finding joy in this little sprout of celery that I am growing from the end of the last stalk we bought. Life! A little sprout! Yippee!

I’m also finding joy in bringing order to my house. I make no bones about my dislike for paper. It’s a necessary evil in our lives but there’s not an even an ounce of me that enjoys working with it. When I had this realization I gave up card making. I worked with paper all day long and I sure didn’t want to play with it at night. But I digress…

I’ve been working on one room at a time. The one I was dreading was the office because of … PAPER!! Anyway, yesterday I decided (with a gentle push from my daughter who had just done a clean sweep of her place) that it was time I attacked the office. And wouldn’t you know it…I found joy in scanning all these papers and then shredding them. I’m quite shocked actually. I absolutely love my ScanSnap scanner by Fujitsu. It’s worth every penny. My trusty shredder is a heavier duty one from Staples and it’s doing a fine job too.

I made some headway yesterday as evidenced by all the confetti I created and am hoping to wrap up this portion of the office work today/tonight. I’m going to reward myself with some nice red wine when this is done. There is joy in finally getting that job done that you’ve been dreading. I didn’t expect to find joy in the office, but there it was!

And of course when the office is tackled I will go pet some fabric, work on a UFO or on more caps, masks or scrub bags. The need continues and so we will keep sewing. And I know I will find joy there.

I hope you will also find some joy in the everyday things you find yourself doing while quarantined at home.

Until next time!

Mavis

NEW in the Pantograph Library

 

I am slowly adding images of my pantograph library for customer review. Here are two I added today. Hover over the Quilting tab on my homepage and then click on Pantographs . Now I’m off to quilt out the Flower Child one!

PERLE EDGE TO EDGE 

FLOWER CHILD

Hearts in the Window - Free Pattern

 

Hearts in the Window 

Finished Size:  Approx. 24" square

This quilt was created from my stash during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.  There was a worldwide display of "hearts in the window" started by an unknown person as a way for quarantined citizens to show gratitude to front line workers (health workers and essential services).  I like fabric way more than paper so I created my heart as a quilted wall hanging.  In that same spirit, I'm offering this pattern for free.  Please do not share the pattern but instead send people back to my blog to download their own copy.  Thank you.  Mavis Reynolds

This pattern was designed using my Accuquilt GO cutter but this is not mandatory.  Alternate instructions are provided.

Yardage:

1/2 yard of floral

1/2 yard of background

1/2 yard of border fabric

Cutting:

Cut 37 background squares (2 1/2")

Cut 68 floral squares (2 1/2")

Cut 3 strips 2 1/2" wide x width of fabric from background fabric

Cut 4 strips 3 1/2" wide x width of fabric from border fabric

To make pieced squares:

Cut one 2 7/8" square of each of your background and floral fabrics.  With right sides together draw a diagonal line from corner to corner and sew a scan quarter inch on either side of the line.  Cut along the center line.  Open and press to the floral.  These two half square triangle squares for for the top left and top right corners of the quilt top.  Pay attention to the orientation so that the floral fabric faces towards the center of the heart.

Cut 4  2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares from each of the floral and background fabric.  With right sides together, sew them in pairs one floral to one background piece.  Press towards towards the floral.

Trim 2 of these units to 2 1/2" like this so that the smaller piece (approximately 3/4") is the background and the rest is the floral).  These blocks create an illusion of a taper towards the bottom of the heart.

Trim the remaining 2 units so that they are equally background and equally floral and finish at 2 1/2".

Sewing:

Using the remaining 2 1/2" squares follow this layout and sew the quilt top together in chunks as follows and then join the chunks together.

Top Left chunk

Top Middle

Top Right Chunk

Bottom Left Chunk

Bottom Middle

Bottom Right Chunk

Joined chunks

Borders

Add the background fabric borders to the top and both sides of the quilt top.

Add the outher borders to all four sides of the quilt top.

Quilt, bind and enjoy!  Oh...and hang it for others to enjoy as well! 

© Mavis Reynolds & Dayspring Quilt Studio, 2020

All rights reserved.  This pattern may not be copied or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the designer.

International Quilting Day - March 21, 2020

Celebration Day is almost here! International Quilting Day is always the third Saturday in March and this year falls on March 21st. The usual celebration you might expect to find is groups of quilters gathering together to sew on their projects or charity projects. Some join online challenges and mystery quilts. Others go to quilt shops to support the small businesses in their locations and their vacation destinations. How many times have you seen requests on online groups that go something like this: "I'm going to be visiting Las Vegas next month. Where are the quilt shops?" A time or two right?



Last year I had an idea that on International Quilting Day in 2020 we should celebrate by hanging quilts outdoors. I guess the basis of the idea came after visiting Sisters, Oregon twice for their annual Outdoor Quilt Show. It has become a vacation destination for quilters, quilting groups and some good natured significant others. Quilters get on board with events that focus on their passion of stitching with love. Quilt Shops organize shop hops under the banner Worldwide Quilting Day on the same day to encourage people to support local quilt shops.

I thought, "what if we hang quilts outside, and ask our friends to do likewise, and they ask their friends, and so on and so on. Wouldn't it create some curiosity? Wouldn't it add some colour to our yards? Wouldn't it tell our neighbours that we love our craft? And that is how it all began.

I then created a Facebook event so that there would be one place online where people could find out information about the event. From there I shared with some online quilting groups. I had very enthusiastic responses and decided I might be on to something. Then it went viral.

The idea has grown and taken on a life of its own. Then arrived the Covid-19 pandemic with social isolation protocols announced and social distancing becoming the new buzzword. School is out for spring break but then on hold thereafter. Restaurants are closed except for takeout. Grocery store shelves are bare. Streets are empty. While sporting events and other gatherings are being cancelled, including our Victoria Quilters' Guild 2020 Quilt Show the first weekend in June, this project suddenly became something that quilters could do, hang their quilts outdoors at their residences, to add some colour to their neighbourhoods, despite our new restrictions. My last week has been spent on promotion in our local media, producing a driving map for my city, and answering social media enquiries. By the number of pings on my phone, it seems the world has realized that we can still get in our cars and maintain social distancing and yet do something fun this Saturday.

Let's go see some quilts and take pictures and post them! You will undoubtedly see bed quilts, traditional quilts, modern quilts, baby quilts, and art quilts. You will likely see them on railings, in trees, on benches, on the sides of buildings and hanging in windows.

Here is the link to an interview on Tuesday this week which aired on our local news channel: https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1924052

Here are the locations in Greater Victoria, British Columbia where there will be quilts hanging on March 21st:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/victoria-quilters-guild/international-quilting-day-2020-quilt-tour/2563512483933516/

I would love to see the Internet filled with pictures of the quilt spottings! (Hashtags would be appreciated: #internationalquiltingday2020 #internationalquilthanging2020 #hangaquilt) Let's brighten someone's day. Let's help them remember their friends and family members who may have quilted and gifted them one. Let's help the cancer patients and NICU parents remember the love expressed by these caring strangers who donated to them in their time of need. Let's do what we do to show tangible love and comfort in these uncertain times. Let's wrap the world in quilty hugs.

Mavis (aka Dayspring Quilter)