A Beautiful Scrap Quilt

A scrap quilt truly shows how well fabrics "play" together and shows us that there are endless combinations that work, and that work well. I enjoy seeing the various colours and fabrics in a scrap quilt and as I progress with my stitching across the top, I study the fabrics and visualize future possible colour combinations.

I especially enjoyed seeing the variety of fabrics Nancy used in this wonderful quilt - she has placed Christmas prints near kiddie prints, stripes next to florals, novelty prints close to Christmas prints...a huge selection of fabric themes with simply festive results. Her solid red border pulls it all together and a thick poly batt helps create a soft, cuddly quilt ready to brighten up any room. 

I used a simple stitch pattern to create a secondary design within the main body of the quilt. I quilted the outer borders with what I call my "fake" feathers, a quick feathery stitch that carries your eye around the quilt.

Threads

I spent a portion of my day unfolding each and every quilt top and backing I have to quilt and matching them to the thread I have, or to the thread I needed to order. I need full morning sun to be comfortable in my thread choices and today was one of those wonderful sunny days that filled that need. Eventually I finally pared the number of spools I was ordering down to an monetary amount I could cope with and sent the order. I can't be the only one who gets discouraged with the US exchange these days. 

After all that decision making, I went for a run and I haven't decided if that was more discouraging than the price I had to pay for the thread..I started out thinking I would run 5 km and feeling good at the 2 mark decided I would go 10, then at 3 decided maybe 8 and then at 5.5 realized I was finished. Hah. Anyway. 

There have been a flow of quilts coming and going and I haven't been keeping up with posting photos here. Eventually I will share some of them, but right now I have to keep working at finishing up pieces needed for upcoming shows and presentations.

I did want to share a photo of the thank you card that I designed for our guild to send out to the sponsors of our recent retreat. 

And if you were interested in seeing more photos from the retreat, like the card says, check Greater Moncton Quilt Guild Retreat 2015 Photo Gallery and look under Retreat 2015.

Marie's Christmas Quilt

My friend, Marie asked me to quilt this lovely Christmas themed quilt for her as she works on completing a number of her unfinished projects.

Like many quilters, Marie is involved in so many different projects that I sometimes wonder how she gets done what she does and although retired now, she still remains active in many charitable groups. While working as a nurse, she led a campaign to have quilts on every bed in the oncology unit at the George Dumont Hospital here in Moncton. She orchestrated all stages of completion of these quilts and she even looked after the necessary washing and mending that came with strenuous use. The small part I played in this project was to create hand lettered labels for each of the quilts.

So, now in her happy retirement, Marie is actually getting to a few of her own quilting projects, although still in between a lot of her other community based activities. This cheerful quilt was recently on my long arm and Marie has added the binding using the same blue snowflake fabric, making that one Christmas quilt ready for next year. Fortunately I was inspired by the wintery view outside my window as I quilted it.

Tomorrow we are expecting even more snow.

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.

Cabin Life and Pickle Quilts

I have to be honest, sometimes by the time I complete posts for the SAQA Atlantic blog where I share moderating duties, I am blogged out. I am transitioning to a new computer as well and the aging MacBook I use for all my photo work takes soooooo long some days when I am trying to edit, watermark and post photos, that I feel like a 4 year old about to throw a tantrum. I usually end of sliding down in my rolly chair (highly technical term for an office chair, but around here, we know of what I speak), throwing back my head and doing a grotesque version of jazz hands...It isn't pretty.

I believe I have written at least a dozen posts for my own blog over the last 3 weeks...apparently all in my head and never committed to the blog. I realized that now as I completed a post for SAQA Atlantic. Wow. Reality check here. 

I could say I have been busy. Which I have been. But after an interesting conversation with my son over Christmas where he detailed his reaction to people who tell him they are busy, well, I hesitate to say that. He pointed out that as an opener, saying you are busy is the best way to stop interaction. If you are that busy, well you had best get back to what is keeping you that way. I am still pondering if that is a "big city" way of thinking as opposed to the more relaxed east coast mentality. But, best to not take chances..

So, I will just show you a couple of lovely quilts by my friend, Giselle, who made these for her very talented daughters as Christmas gifts. She requested straight lines and simple quilting, so I did my best to oblige. 

This one her daughter, a photographer, dubbed her "Pickle" quilt. It is pieced with Kona Cottons.

Giselle used a fabric she ordered from an upholstery shop for the backing. It is relatively soft with a looser weave and matches the colors of the top perfectly.

The second for her daughter, a chef, and is called Cabin Life. This is a free download from Connecting Threads and Giselle pieced hers from their beautiful flannels. Giselle provided 80/20 cotton batting and as always, I used my favorite Glide threads top and bobbin. 

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.

Sew Sister Blogathon Canada 2014 hits the Atlantic!

Welcome Blogathon readers!! This week Sew Sisters is celebrating Canadian quilters!

This week is the third Blogathon Canada sponsored by Sew Sisters, a brick and mortar quilt shop located in Toronto, Ontario. I have ordered fabric online from Sew Sisters and found them to be very prompt and efficient. I really enjoy how they wrap all fabric securely in plastic before they box it up to mail. It is great service because this is how Canada Post handles parcels being delivered to me: if it is raining or snowing, parcels are left it in the middle of my driveway and if the sun is shining, parcels are bent and folded and shoved into the mailbox..Fortunately fabric is forgiving!

There are two Maritime hosts today, and both happen to be Linda's! There is Nova Scotia's Linda at Scrapmaster and New Brunswick's Linda at Stitch Lines. Check both of Linda’s blogs out for lots more East Coast bloggers and be sure to comment on both their posts - Sew Sisters has generously provided some great prizes! Thanks Sew Sisters!!

I refer to myself as a "person of fibre"..I love it in its many forms and love working with it any way I can. I quilt, I paint fabric, I surface dye it, I have sewn lots and lots of clothing and household items over the years, I have built costumes for the stage, I can weave and felt, I knit, I can crochet. Breathing does become an issue around sheep (and horses, too, but that's irrelevant here) so I sold my spinning wheel early on in my weaving/spinning career.

As well, I am a sign painter. Hence the name of my blog, Sister of the brush. Sign painting tended to be a predominately male occupation for many years and when I studied at George Brown College (yes, there are legitimate sign writing courses...), we were told the secret to running a successful business was a supportive wife. A wife. No, they never said, supportive husband, spouse, partner, it was wife..Well, that left me and other females in our class high and dry, so it was there and then that we dubbed ourselves, Sisters of the Brush and swore to be our own support system!

I still love wielding a brush. And I incorporate paint and fabric all the time. Painting fabric is soooo much fun! I especially like low immersion dyeing, discharging, sun printing and soy batik and combinations of all techniques!

I am also a longarm quilter. I use pantographs to quilt edge to edge designs, but especially enjoy quilting my own designs.

Thanks for visiting and welcome as always to my regular audience! I appreciate you taking the time to see what I am up to, what I am currently ranting about or seeing what photos I am sharing. Please continue to comment and if you have any issues doing so, please email me. My address is available via my profile which can be found on my sidebar.

Marie’s Beautiful Batik Quilt

Marie has a huge collection of batiks, many that I have never seen, and it was so much fun quilting this lovely top for her, all the while admiring the fabric designs!

I know that Marie likes stippling designs and pantographs, so for this quilt of hers, I decided to try a pantograph I had ordered and never used. Actually, I broke down and ordered 5 pantographs last winter and this is the first one to make it out of the wrapper. I decided it was time to give it a try!

A section of the back

The design is called Feather Breeze and is by Lisa Thiessen of Threadsongs. I chose to buy it because it is a lovely, flowing design and I chose it for Marie’s top because it would enhance the simple, striking pattern she had chosen to piece. I used a variegated thread on the top thread and a solid orange hue in the bobbin.

The quilt is for Marie’s sister and her sister chose the backing herself. I think Marie was a bit surprised by her choice of this bright, vibrant fabric, but we agreed it suits the quilt quite well!

I am inspired to start piecing some of the rather large stack of batiks I have on my shelves. The wonderful thing about a pattern such as this is the variety of prints you can use and still have lots left for other projects!

First Snow and My Frozen Tears

I don’t take well to having any kind of a schedule on Mondays. Even when I worked full time, I would prefer to work longer hours the other days of the week so that I would have Mondays for me.

This morning I had to attend a meeting at 10 am and as my husband got ready for work, I lay in bed, bemoaning the fact that I had to get up and that not only did I have to leave the house, but also that I couldn’t attend the meeting in my pyjamas..My whining started before I even had my glasses on and when I caught on that he was ignoring me and my rant, I asked him what kind of day it was out there. When he replied that it was a white world, I sat bolt upright in bed and if I recall correctly, I screamed, “WHAT!” With a flourish he whipped the curtain back so I could see for myself and I know tears pooled in my eyes..

I am not a huge fan of cold weather. Or snow. Or ice. I don’t like driving in it, I don’t like other people travelling in it. I don’t like being cold and I always am. Case in point, I am currently wearing a hoodie (with the hood up) and have a heated magic bag in my lap. My husband says it is obviously the season of gnomes because when I am home I tend to look like one as I transition from summer’s bare legs and feet, to multi layer coverage. He is used to me wearing a toque at mealtime, along with a selection of scarfs round my neck. He is also aware that I own three magic bags that sometimes can be seen peeking from inside one of my layers when I am really chilly. Meanwhile he is in short sleeves and bare feet.....

My mother told me that I wasn’t always cold. When I was 13 and a Girl Guide, I was part of a group of three Guides who chose to work on receiving Outdoor Winter Camping Badges, a spanking brand new badge offered. Well. The night we built our lean to (back in the days when you could actually cut tree branches and build outdoor fires), dug our outdoor latrine and cooked our supper in a snow bank just happened to be the coldest night recorded that winter. It was -54 degrees with the wind chill. I have a very vivid memory of lying in my sleeping bag with its frozen zipper on top of a layer of spruce boughs and an icy tarp and staring longingly through the trees to the brightly lit windows of the farmhouse where our leaders were nice and cosy.

But, we all hung in there, had lots of fun, made some crazy wild memories and were the first three Guides in Canada to receive our badges. I came home with my waist length hair full of huge hunks of ice that mom spent hours on melting and combing out. And I came home with a chill that I have never been able to shake. Well, except for when I was pregnant with my son. But, that is another story for another time..

Totally unrelated to my winding tale, but because every post deserves a photo, here are two baby quilts that I quilted for Florine. These sweet little quilts have found they way to brand new babies in Edmonton. Hopefully these new little folk will be kept nice and warm in these adorable and colorful quilts.

A Client’s Appliqued Quilt with Scallop Border

Freda has been a quilter for many years and at age 84, continues to piece any number of tops. She enters shows, is a member of the Chocolate River Guild in our area and always has a quilt for sale.

This is a quilt I recently quilted for her and it is now being bound in a lovely scallop edging by another quilting friend, Patty. 

I decided to take Freda's applique design and use it as a guide for creating my quilting designs. I stitched a flower in each of the scallops and then, quilting leaves in combination with the flowers, created some vines around the centre block, in the four triangle spaces surrounding this border and in the outer corners. I also stitched 4 partial false blocks to break up the white space and quilted half flowers in each. 

I choose to outline the appliques only and stitch in the ditch around each block and sashing.