Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew Along - Becky & Bonnie

I did it!  I joined a sew along!  The plan is to make 2 blocks every week and at the end of the year we'll have enough blocks done for a full quilt.  Woot Woot!

Its the Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew along.  You can find all the info here if you want to join up too.  

I'm going to try my hardest to get my blocks done every week.  After all, 2 blocks each week (one on Tuesday and one on Thursday) shouldn't be too hard!!!

I'm going to post at least once a week with the label - Farmer's Wife 1930 Sampler and share my adventures and a few pictures.

My first plan of action is to choose my thread and set up my machine. I have chosen to use WonderFil's Deco-bob thread.  It's an 80 wt cottonized polyester that will give me a perfectly flat seam and my blocks WILL be exactly 6 1/2" from cut edge to cut edge.  I will never (hopefully) have to mess with my blocks once they are sewn.

I will probably do most of my piecing on my Elna 7200.  I've adjusted my needle into the perfect 1/4" seam allowance position and shortened my stitch length.   All set.

My only rule when making these quilt blocks will be to use from my stash (as much as possible) and use only Batiks.  I will be using a light background for the blocks to "float on".  So, I just grabbed 4 different batiks.  Not gonna worry about them "matching" too closely.

I'll store the small usable scraps in one of my flat boxes.  The completed blocks will be stored in a 2nd box.

First up is the bonus block - Becky.
 I'm going to date each block as I sew it.  

The second block this week is - Bonnie.


I'm going to include only one of the fabrics from the previous block in the next one. There is no rhyme or reason for this other than I'll be using up some of those little scraps.
To label the blocks, I'm writing the block number and name on one of the seam allowances of each block.

The seams will all be pressed open.


























Saturday, September 19, 2015

Quilt Retreat in Fruitvale BC

I spent last week with some lovely ladies at a quilting retreat in Fruitvale BC.  Fruitvale is on the highway close to Trail.  

We drove out on Saturday and spent the night at a "lovely" motel!  While 2 of my friends went out for a drive and some sight seeing, I spent Sunday morning doing a WonderFil Threaducation presentation to 15 other ladies.

I then spent the afternoon sewing 2 16 inch swoon quilts.  They are now bordered and ready for quilting.  I'll be quilting them with Konfetti/Tutti (50 wt cotton) and Spagetti/Fruitti (12 wt cotton). One I pressed the seams to one side and the other I pressed most of the seams open.  I'm kind of liking the pressing the seams open thing.



I may get to quilt this quilt.  We decided it needs another border...just something to give a bit more of a frame and to help manage the bias edges on the outside.  Sharon (not her in the picture) doesn't really like this quilt, so the challenge will be for me to make it something special with the quilting so she will like it.


We saw some wildlife.  Here is a gaggle of wild turkeys that were around the campsite we sewed at. 


 Of course we had to do some shopping, so a trip to the states was necessary.  They had the prefect fabric for the border of one of the retreater's quilt.  Just a scenery shot.


I think the trip for the border fabric was well worth it.

 Earlier this summer I took Wayne Kollinger's class on Disappearing blocks.  I had started with this goose block and cut it in  half.
 I then mixed them up and rotated the units a quarter turn to the left.
 I then tried turning them a quarter turn to the right.  Like that better.
 Brenda is so very proud of these two Hello Kitty quilts.  One for each of her grand daughters.  She'll be in to the studio soon to quilt them.
         
Our retreat was held at the Boy Scout Camp in Beaver Valley.  Lots of room to spread out to work on a quilt and to sew and visit.


 I have a tool roll that I take with my sewing machine.  I sewed myself a new one with a thread catcher attached to it.  Everyone liked it so I had to show them how it was done.





Here is a quilt made from 10" layer cakes.

A house coat....we weren't all quilting.


I finally got the binding on a few projects.  All I need to do is sit down and hand sew.



 I quilted and sewed an envelope to put my quilting samples in.  The goal is to have an envelope for each of WonderFil's threads and my 12" sample quilts sorted and stored by thread used.




 And Finally.....my room mates!  We had a great week.  Thanks girls.





Friday, September 18, 2015

Classes, Classes and More Classes

I'm excited about my fall teaching schedule.  I'll highlight them here and post all the details on my classes page.

I teach sewing and quilting at the WonderFil Threaducation Centre in NE Calgary.  If you follow the tab marked CLASSES, MACHINE, the classes for domestic and longarm machines are listed there. The tab marked LONGARM STUDIO gives details about certification classes and rentals of these wonderful machines.


  


I've been invited to go up to Central Sewing Machines in Edmonton over the Thanksgiving weekend. I'll be teaching 3 days of classes.  Some are full day and some are half day. Check those classes here. My classes are listed on page 10.


As part of my duties at the WonderFil Threaducation Centre, I am invited to different quilt groups to share all about WonderFil Specialty Threads.  If you would like me to visit, contact me.  I can do a 1-3 hour presentation with lots of different samples to show and a 3-6 hour hands on workshop.



I am also doing some private and semi private longarm classes.  If you would like some longarm training on your own machine, I can visit and we can play and learn.  You are welcome to ask a friend to join us or keep things private.  If you would like to book some time, feel free to contact me.

Challenge Quilt Group

I'm interested in becoming a part of a group of local (Calgary) quilters who would like to get together on a regular basis to challenge each other.  Anyone else interested?

Here is what I propose
  • we meet every 4-6 weeks
  • each meeting is hosted by a different group member
  • the host of each meeting will
    • set the theme for the meeting (guide an exploration of a different quilting/stitching technique)
    • determine the "challenge" for the coming time period. 
    • provide refreshments (as required)
    • chair the review of the challenge for each month
These are very simple "rules" but my idea is that the group would meet on a regular basis.  We would be challenged to make a quilt (something small, size to be agreed upon before we start) each time and bring the completed project for review.  We must be willing to give constructive comments on group member's projects and also willing to accept comments from other group members.

I feel that many times I am considered the "expert" in quilting and find that I want to take some time to be challenged to explore and learn something new.

Anyone interested in joining me?  I'll post on my facebook page and keep you informed.  meadow rose quilting

Happy Quilting