Chocolate River Comfort Quilt

I belong to two traditional guilds. One of these quilts meets every second week during the day and the meetings are working based. Most members bring their sewing machines while others focus on cutting fabrics, or on hand work. Everyone brings their lunch and there is a short business meeting while we eat. I am discovering I like this format and although I am not keen to drag my machine most days, or perhaps just while it is winter, I organize something simple to work on beforehand and enjoy spending some time catching up with my quilting friends. 

This group has decided to create one quilt each year for charity and this year the finished quilt is to be donated to the local women's shelter in memory of Ree Defina who should have been joining the group this year, but who passed last August.

Two members, both close friends of Ree, organized the making of the top and members pieced the blocks at one of our meetings. The top was sewn together and I volunteered to quilt it. I kept the quilting simple because we all know that many hands make light work and I have learned the best way to enhance multiple sewers is to use a simple quilting design. I used my favourite Glide thread with a 20/80 batt. The colours chosen for the quilt were Ree's favourites and the finished quilt has been donated and is hopefully bringing comfort where needed.

Superwoman in Training

I redeemed myself the next day. I started early, stayed focused and didn’t give up until the quilt was done. I was tired at the end of the day as I finished sewed the binding on by hand, but I was pleased with my results and felt back on track. Well, not completely on track, that might be asking too much, but it was another project checked off my list.

We were hit with freezing rain on Wednesday and our road was not passable until after 2 pm, so my plans for the day were put on hold. Ah well, staying home gave me the incentive, as well as the time, to piece and quilt and sew.

At the end of the day I had this..

It really doesn’t ripple on the edges - it’s just the way I draped it over the edge of the bed for photos.

A quilt my daughter asked me to make.

It has been carried by friends to Halifax and tomorrow it will travel a little further to be delivered to its new owner.

The true color is more like in the photo below on the bottom left corner. 

It’s a surprise gift for someone who has been generous and loving and treated my daughter like one of her own.

Like most of my projects, I seem to think I am going to be able to make exactly what I want with limited amounts of fabric. (Do I really have to wait until Christmas Day to open that 3D printer, Santa??) As it turned out, I had to get creative with what I had and the result was a bit smaller quilt than I originally planned. But, at 48 x 68 it is still a lovely size for keeping cosy and the minky (from Marden’s!) will add to that warmth factor.

Interestingly, in this rather small project, I used fabrics from Sew Sisters, Hamels, Mardens, Avonport Discount and thread from Barbados and New Maryland! Cotton top, poly batt, minky back, Glide Thread and my free wheeling on the needle.

It’s bright and cheery and I hope it is well received.

I am not superwoman.....damn

The problem usually begins when I forget that I do not have super powers. And no matter if I am reminded of that by the end of the day, by the time I wake up the next morning and my feet hit the floor, I have forgotten that lesson learned. It is like there is a reset button in my head. Even if I start to hear little whisperings of self doubts, I brush them aside and carry on as if I will finish every project within the unrealistic time frame I have established for myself. 

I also often forget that I am not the most zealous traditional quilter. Or, rather, piecer. After I put together one block, I am looking over my shoulder for that 3D printer so I can whip out the rest of the blocks I need and get that top pieced! Note to self - write impassioned letter to Santa asking for 3D printer. I can print off extra arms for myself, too, right?? And fabric? I have lots of uses for one of those babies!

I was so, so optimistic this morning..I was sure the top would be pieced, I would be quilting by mid afternoon and then tomorrow I would sew the binding on.

Yes. I really think this way.

The reality? Well, my husband called at 3:50 pm. It went something like this:
Rej: How’s your day? 
Me: What! What time is it?? I thought it wasn’t even 3 o’clock yet!
Rej: Yeah, well it’s almost 4. Did you run today?
Me: Run!! I am still in my pyjamas! Did I eat lunch?? What time did you say it is??
Rej: (who is used to my rants and talking to myself) Ok, I will be home by 4:30. It’s cold out so dress warm..(Our deal is, if neither of us has run or biked that day, we walk. So, walk it was.)

Sigh.

You might be surprised to learn I even thought I would work on a second project today, “in my spare minutes”..Unbelievable.

More Monday Marvels Quilts

This summer I was able to quilt a few quilts for the Monday Marvels, a local quilting bee. These quilters donate their time to create quilts for several Moncton organizations and are often called upon to provide a comfort quilt when a need arises. They had a number of tops needing completion so since I purchased my longarm, I have tried to help them out by quilting some of these.

I received two very similar tops and quilted them in the same motif, in case they found a home when matching tops would be fitting.

The before shot

I had a lot of fun working on these because they are quilted in my own overall motifs. I really enjoy being on the needle side of the machine and hand guiding it to create my designs.

The after shot of the second quilt

I am hoping these two quilts find loving homes, and the new owners enjoy the softness and cuddly feel the extra loft poly batting helps create.

Freehand Quilting

I find myself in the very fortunate position of having a number of comfort or charity quilts to stitch. These lovely quilt tops give me the opportunity to learn as I go and to practice my own longarming designs. When I am faced with a client’s top and I am still not completely sure what approach I will take, I load one of these tops on my machine and stitch away. It is always interesting because I often have an idea of what I will be quilting and then when I start, well, what I stitch is usually nothing like what I have been sketching out and practicing in my cool and handy Wipebook my sweet daughter gifted to me.

This time I did stick to my plan and I am especially pleased with this design. I love being in front of the needle on my longarm. In some ways it reminds me of my days wielding a brush and letting the paint flow!

This design is one I randomly stitched on a sampler with while at Road to California and I was itching to take it a step further and develop it into a full edge to edge freehand design.

I always tend to try to fill every space and I working to learn the fine art of less is more - for some quilts! I think it has a lovely, casual feel and yet maybe is a bit folksy as well.

A comfort quilt

This is a lovely quilt, as well as a lovely gesture. A member of my quilt guild pieced the top with this myriad of plaids, all from clothing gathered from her former boss’s grandfather who had recently passed. She took all the shirts that had been saved, opened then up to get the fabric she needed and then pieced the top. I used an open quilting design to enhance the well worn softness of the cottons and brushed cottons. Wrapping up in the quilt is like getting a big soft hug.

And because I am so, so tired of snow, here are some photos I took at the Joshua Tree National Park on our recent trip to California..

Joshua Tree National Park

Now that is a sunset..

A quilt for an old friend

When our young teenage kids were dating, and they still needed drives everywhere, we hit it off immediately, with our first hellos in the driveway. Gradually our conversations carried us into each others homes. We would talk and talk until the wee hours of the morning, laughing, always laughing, with the kids hanging around, listening in. I can’t remember specifically what made us laugh so hard, so often, but I know we usually kept the kids waiting for us to wind down, way past a reasonable hour. 

Sadly the teenage romance didn’t last and we no longer had those opportunities to see each other. When we ran into each other, it never seemed to be a convenient time to stay and talk longer. The effects of that broken love reached far beyond our two teenage children..

A lot of people dislike Facebook for what are probably valid reasons. But, I am not one of them. I have reconnected with so many old friends because of this form of social media and I am grateful. One of these is my dear, dear friend of my son’s high school days. Lately she is being kept busy with more health issues than any one person should have to handle.

I love her and I miss her and because of that, I made her this. I haven’t delivered it to her yet, but when I do, I hope she likes it. 

Non-commital Piecing and Baked Goods

Here are some glimpses at a couple of projects I have on the go right now. 

The finished (yippee!) quilt top is called Garden Fence and is a quick, easy top to put together. I am not usually a repeat, multiple block kind of sewer, but this top really appealed to me for the person I intend it. I think Bali Batiks suit it very well, I had just enough of the sashing fabric, and the backing I picked up in Maine last summer will be perfect. Now, to decide how I want to quilt it..

The other project is an easy 2.5 inch strip project. So far I have cut a selection of green fabrics into this width strip and now I am sewing them together in groups of 3 and 5. It is non-commital sewing and just right for breaks from my other work. And playing with placement of the strips and the resulting blocks I cut from the sewn strips will be downright fun.

I quit the kitchen once my kids left for University and Rejean willingly picked up the slack, with great style I might add! He hasn’t expresses any interest as yet in baking, so every once in a while I indulge and that usually means muffins.

My well loved copy of Mom’s blueberry muffins

Today I made these super delicious blueberry muffins from my Mom’s tried and true recipe, using lovely New Brunswick blueberries picked by my sweet and talented sister-in-law, Pauline.

Today I am linking to the Needle and Thread Network.

Continuous quilting

This is a quilt I finished recently - another comfort quilt for the Monday Marvels. 

I am still searching for the best location to photograph finished quilts so there are some color differences on these photos.

I used a continuous quilting design and complementary thread.

Comfort quilt

Comfort quilts. The reason for creating them is often a sad, miserable turn of events in someone’s life. 

The mom of one of my daughter’s close friends received news no one ever deserves to get. I suggested Simone contact Victoria’s Quilts and request a quilt for her. Simone asked if I would consider making a quilt suited to the mom’s tastes. Simone and I chose fabrics via Facetime and I got started. 

I have never designed, pieced, quilted and bound a quilt so quickly.

I used  a variety of fabrics from my rather extensive collection, a backing I had picked up in Maine and Omni natural thread. Simone requested a poly batting so that the quilt would be puffy and cuddly.

I used some of my new skills learned in a workshop with DeLoa Jones and completed it with freehand continuous quilting.

I hope it brings some measure of comfort as our friend receives treatment.