Midnight Sun #2

This is Barb’s second Midnight Sun quilt that her mom Marg pieced for her.   Actually is it made with the other half of the strip sets that she used to make the first quilt I posted here.   With this pattern you end up with two quilts that look completely different.  Here is the side by side comparison…they are made using the same strips sets just cut at the opposite angles.  Wow eh!

Barb’s son asked for this quilt and now has to decided which one he wants.  I hear he is leaning towards this new one as he loves bold bright colors.

The pattern is from the Nov/Dec issues of Love of Quilting magazine.

The backing is a bright red flannel and I used Quilters Dream Blend batting.  The thread is a very bright Yellow So Fine as Barb wanted the quilting to show in the outer border.   The panto is Fascination.

Rhubarb Pie Quilt

 

This is Trina’s Rhurbarb Pie quilt by Madison Cottage Designs, just the name makes my mouth water!  Yummy fabrics!    Trina lives down in Kentucky but she use to live in Flin Flon so I am very flattered that she still mails me her quilts to quilt for her.   The original pattern was for a 72” x72” size quilt and she ask from my help to make the pattern 90”x100” and we figured it out.

She asked for a panto design in the center and custom border.  I used the Rhapsody panto for the center and a leaf design in the border.  Quilters Dream Blend batting and Yellow So Fine thread.  You may be wondering why yellow as the quilt is mainly a light green but the yellow looks like green on the green fabrics and pink on the pink fabrics.  I always spend time auditioning different colors of threads on the quilt top before I start as I am always surprised at what color works…its never my first thought!

Today was a perfect day to take a quilt out on the lake as it is –16’ this morning.   It was melting yesterday but now that it has frozen again I can easily walk on top of the snow so made laying out the quilt a breeze!  Yesterday when I tried to walk down to the lake every step I took I was breaking though the packed snow and stumbling all over, my husband even got his car stuck in our driveway as it had a foot of slush on it!

The little ice rink was full of water yesterday from the melting snow but is now frozen over again.  As you can see it is now smaller than Trina’s quilt!  When I was in Winnipeg last week at the Quilt Show I found out from a vendors that sells our Highway 10 patterns that I am known as the ‘quilter who takes quilt pictures in the snow.’     I think I have a few more weeks of being that quilter…wonder what they call me the rest of the year?   :)

Guild Quilts for Dialysis

Our guild is very generous with donating quilts to our community.  A few years ago we gave quilts to the hospitals dialysis department and we have seen that they have been well used and in need of new quilts.  These are just three of the many that will be make there way over to the hospital soon.

  This first one is quilted with the Starlight panto and I quilted this one sideways so the pattern runs vertical, not horizontal.   The pattern is called Bundle of 12 – Treetops. 

I remember this one was going to be a Bento Box quilt but the Key Lime batik bundle didn’t look very good in that pattern….or so the quilt member who donated this top to the guild said!  :)  She used the quarter sections of the blocks to create this original design.  The panto is Plush.

 

The last quilt was made using the Bundle of 12 pattern and  I used the Feather Curls panto.  All the quilts have Dream Blend batting and Ultra Cuddle on the backing.  For the record I hate Ultra Cuddle as it is not really meant to be used for quilt backs like Cuddle is, I don’t mind quilting with Cuddle/Minkie.  I did a rant on Ultra Cuddle a few months ago  and complained about how stretchy it is but that was after the guild ordered two bolts of it!    So this week I tackled this icky job to get it over with, the ladies at the guild owe me big time!  :)

Great news….the snow is melting!!   Its +9’c and the sun is now shining!  The snow might be gone by the end of the month if we are lucky!

Star Fling Using Kansas Troubles

 

Here is another Star Fling quilt that was made by our guild and this time they used Kansas Troubles fabrics.  The other Star Fling quilt they made was pieced using bright coloured fabrics and had a totally different look.   You can see that one here.  This quilt is going to be donated to the Respite Room at the Personal Care Home in Flin Flon. 

The panto used on this one is called Wildflower and looks nice with all the tiny floral prints in the fabrics.  I used a light brown So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

 

Woke up to more snow this morning but the temperature got up to +3’c today so I enjoyed watching it melt!!!  Looks like spring might finally be making its way up north!

I thought I would also mention that a friend of mine is trying to sell her 2013 APQS George machine as she is going to take the plunge and get a Millennium!   So if your looking or if you know someone who is looking for a great sit down quilting machine then check out Laura’s blog post here.  She is located in North Carolina, USA.

Fabric Shopping

Just got home from a week down in Winnipeg for the boys Spring Break.  I made it to the Quilt Show on the Sunday and saw some beautiful quilts but I forgot to bring my camera!    But what I can show you is all my fabric shopping as the vendors were great!  I was in desperate need of some fabric shopping therapy as I spent most of my week at the dentist office, had three appointments to get a crown put on and a cleaning.  My cheek is pretty sore and bruised inside so I’ve enjoyed looking at my fabric and dreaming about what I can make with them.

Hamel’s had a booth at the show and that is where I got most of my batiks.  They had a sale $4.99 for half a meter so I stocked up there and they also had batik bundles at a great price too.  My main focus was on collecting purples and pinks as I don’t have many in my stash and then I found these gorgeous greens and rust prints too!

We also took a trip down to Morden and Winkler this week and I got a great deal on these two batiks at Quilters Den….they were in the clearance section at 50% off but I bought what was left on the bolt ( about 4m each) and got 60% off!!   

Then we hit Road 17 N in Winkler and I had a great visit with the owner Shari!   She has a lovely shop with modern fabrics.  This is where our Lug Nuts quilt is hanging as we bought the Little Black Dress II fabrics from her and she has kits made up if your interested.

I splurged on two fat quarter collections at her shop, Sphere and Wishes!

Our guilds Quilt Show is getting near and I have 4 guild quilt to work on this week so I’ll be posting something quilty soon!

Swoon Quilt

 

This is Lynn’s Swoon quilt and she is going to use this as a large wall hanging so asked for custom quilting!  I’ve had this quilt on my machine all week and it was so nice to take it off my machine and see all the quilting texture in the sunlight!  Lynn suggested a few modern and traditional quilting design so I incorporated a mix of both to give it an eclectic feel!  I had search Swoon quilts online  for inspiration and most of them are quilted edge to edge but there where two custom quilts that stood out to me.  You can see Kay’s here and Linda’s here!  I have been following both these ladies blogs for many years, they are great inspiration to me.  Sometimes just one little design element can spark a series of ideas and you end up finishing a quilt in a way you never imagined when you started.  That is what happened here, I had only a few simple ideas planned when I loaded this quilt on Monday then the ideas just grew from there.

  

It is still cold here, –20’ with a –25’ windchill when I was taking these pictures!

I started the quilting by stitching in the ditch then added continuous curves to the print fabric in the Swoon blocks.   I then added the back and forth lines around the star…which I had never done before….if you look closely at the 45 degree corner one you’ll see just how new I am to that design!  :)  

Then I quilted the two over lapping squares and added a feather motif inside. After that the big open space in the background….what to do there?  I knew I wanted a small feather motif in a diamond shape and have more line radiating out of the center.  Did a lot of stitching and ripping to get to the final design with the pebbles and curls.

The batting is Quilters Dream Blend and the thread is So Fine.  I also used Invisifil for the pebbles.

New Gift!

 
I have been eagerly awaiting my next order from 4imprints.  They are the company that I order my Tamarack Shack bags from and this time I ordered a pen/stylus for a thank you gift for my clients.  I had been sent a sample of this pen and have been using the stylus all the time when I’m on my tablet so I knew it was a winner.   Then I realized I should be using one with my business name on it.   It is silly how excited I am about seeing my little business name on a pen. 

This weekend I’ll be attending the Manitoba Prairie Quilters Quilt Show in Winnipeg.   I have never been to this show and excited to finally be able to go.  Our Lug Nuts quilt will be on display in the vendor area so I’ll be excited to hear how it is being received.   If your going to the show and see me make sure to say hi….I’ll be the crazy lady handing out pens to anyone that looks my way!  :)