When my customer first approached me about having this quilt made, he had the collection of patches and wanted a quilt made with them. With some great suggestions from my friend Alva this is what we came up with.
Grandsons and Texas
My grandsons became buddies as soon as they saw each other. During our visit to Texas Liam started sitting unassisted and pulling himself from here to there. He was wide eyed watching his big cousin Jerry and I’m sure thinking of things he’ll do to be like him.
I love these little guys more than I could ever say. How Cute are they together in the stroller! I wonder if they’ll have as much fun shopping in a few years..somehow I think they’ll choose their Dads and Uncles over us girls. But for now we sure had fun.
and being the Grandma, means that when someone gets a little restless why not buy a cookie!
We celebrated Jerry’s second Birthday while we were in Texas.
Jeremy (Dad) made and decorated the cake.
Sarah (Mom) made and decorated the cookies.
Such a sweet family!
The birthday boy..
One morning when Jerry woke up, and I went to get him from his crib..he wanted his hat and bear headed to the living room and..
off he went to start another busy day!
We arrived home last night, I miss them already.
Yoga
Sarah is my firstborn, also first to fly from the nest and first to make ma a Grandma. She has brought so much into my life!
One of the many things she introduced me to is Yoga which I’ve practiced off and on for the last few years. I’ve been practicing regularly for the last six months now and I really can’t say enough about how much I love it!
Anyways, as a early Mother’s day gift Sarah treated me to a weekend yoga retreat at the beach not far from where she lives. It was a wonderful weekend, lots of yoga,wonderful walks along the beach. Terrific healthy food, and making new friends.
So far Texas has made a great impression on me!
My Circle
Ellen I told you I’d show you and your quilt! Ellen has recently joined our breakfast/quilting group and decided to piece this quilt for the shop that I later quilted with my butterfly panto. The prints are from Moda by Kate Spain and a little out there for some but I love the bright and “differentness” of them.
A few weeks ago some of us made the trip out to Sharon’s in South Gillies for a day of sewing and fun and yes eating too. (seems everything we quilters do requires some extra nourishment) It really was a fun filled day.
Sharon and Ellen busy at work.
Norma,Sharon and Ellen..Lucy was behind her machine and hiding I guess?
Sharon has an amazing amount of room for all of us,
Marlene and I shared the dining room table
I also made great use of Sharon’s design floor!
I managed to get the rows sewn together and last week I took it to my expert on red’s friend, Alva and she showed me that if I made one small change that I’d be much happier with the layout..she was right. I’m ready to put the borders on and will have this quilt to show at the Dryden Quilt Show in our booth. Kits will be available.
Our weather has been amazing this spring..well up until Monday. I must say the snow and ice made me very thankful for my commute to work..as in stop in the kitchen for my cup of coffee and head straight downstairs to my sunny yellow studio.
Before the weather turned though Erik and I made it out Saturday night for the smelt run… they started to run around 12:30 am after a couple of hours we had what we needed/wanted and once again I’m reminded that I’m not a very good late night girl!
Next year I’m going to try to get pictures of others. Smelting is so interesting. The banks along the creeks are loaded with others with their nets and flashlights. I really enjoy watching and listening to all the fishing folks. oh and those smelts are pretty yummy too!
Well it’s Wednesday and I’m off to the shop for the day!
A Little Show and Tell
When Terri first sent me pictures of this quilt as she was working on it, I fell in love with it. I love her colour placement and that this quilt was made from her stash fabrics. The Echinacea flowers were appliqued using very soft brushed flannel or was it velvet, what ever it was the dimension that her fabric choice made was perfect. I used a Panto by Nicole Webb called Fro Fro.
these pictures were taken in MARCH in my back yard! Our weather has been so mild this year and the grass was actually dry. Very unusual for this area.
Helena brought me her Oriental Lantern with instructions to quilt it how I wanted to…
This sweet little quilt is available at the Circle of Friends Quilt Shoppe as a kit. We will be bringing this and many many more kits to the Dryden Quilt Show April 27-29.
Spring
and suddenly it seems that spring has arrived! It has been unseasonably warm here in Northern Ontario this winter but the last several days have been fantastic! Sunshine and warmth.
anyways here a few of my latest jobs
(before I begin this little quilt show I’d like to give my quilt model Derek credit and a big thank you!!)
Alva’s sweet flannel baby girl quilt:
Norma’s Underground Railroad. (which is being taught as the beginners class at the Circle of Friends Quilt Shoppe this spring)
and Sharon’s Snowman Quilt
I just love how the back looks!
Happiness is…
February 3 is not only my daughters birthday but also the 26th anniversary of becoming a Mom. What a wonderful, challenging, fulfilling, stressful at times but mostly rewarding career of love being a Mom has been. When Sarah was born I was 23 and looking back I sure was young and naive, but I was young and grew in so many ways because I was a Mom. Happy Birthday Sarah!!
This little quilt had been here for a while, it belongs to my good friend Alva. When I loaded this quilt onto my longarm I wasn’t sure how I was going to quilt it but it very quickly spoke to me and I just had fun, I played and the ideas flowed as I doodled along. I enjoyed quilting this one so much that I felt a bit sad to have it finished.
Alva picked it up at the shop last week, and later that day I was brought another one to quilt! We may have a long way to go before there are flowers blooming outside but these sunny little quilts will help remind me that spring is coming. (This quilt was a BOM a few years ago)
So the title of my post… well for me Happiness is being a Mom to my 4 beautiful daughters and to the men in their lives and being a Grandma to my adorable grandsons. Having friends and family who encourage, support me in my life and are so much fun to have in my life! Workwise it is helping others to finish the quilts that they have created, I am so thankful for my customers and friends for allowing me that joy!
and now it’s Wednesday and it’s time to get ready to head over to the quilt shop..if you’re in town stop by and say Hi!!
ps these quilt pictures were taken on the front porch of The Circle of Friends Quilt Shoppe.
Home Town Schnibbles Completed
I am so in love with this version of the Madeline Schnibble..I varied the border which I think made it a bit more fun and whimsical.
and here’s my completed Sweet Spot using the Home Town fabric from Sweetwater.
These quilts are currently living at the Circle of Friends Quilt Shoppe if you would like to visit them.
Designer BOM 2011 Block One
I fell in love with the Strawberry Fields Collection by Fig Tree as soon as I saw it. Then when I saw that the Fat Quarter Shop was using the collection for the 2011 Designers BOM I decided to give in and join in. Well the other day I noticed that I’d received 7 of the blocks and maybe it was time to get started.
There was a reason though that I hadn’t started. You see I don’t like the method for making the square in the square block that was used in the pattern. I have never had any luck getting my blocks perfect.
I know it doesn’t look too bad in the picture but it’s off when put under the ruler.
I recently tried and demonstrated a new to me ruler for a quilt group called the Square2 which I fell in love with
Deb Tucker’s Square2 I love this ruler! Deb has wonderful tutorials check out her tutorial for the Square Squared ruler
and here is the result, my first block is finished and it turned out perfectly.
for my friends close by Luci at The Circle of Friends Quilt Shop has this ruler in the shop if you’d like to add it to your tool box!
Looking at the next block I see the Deb Tucker Trimmer will come in really handy!
Sweet Spot Schnibble and a Confession of sorts
I’ve been playing with this collection of charms (Home Town by Sweetwater for Moda)for awhile first working on this Schnibble (Sweet Spot) using a common background fabric. (Just in case you don’t know about Carrie of Miss Rosie’s Quilt Co who designs these wonderful little patterns click on the Schnibble link and go have a visit!)
I really couldn’t believe myself but when I made the flying geese for this project..and I mean all the flying geese for the border, and I was laying them out on my design wall I realized that I’d made them wrong..where was my mind I ask??
here’s my excuse
sometimes Liam likes to hang out with Grandma in her studio..he is such a handsome distraction!
Thankfully I had more charms so I made the geese over again and correctly the second time and the wrong geese?
have become the star points in a slightly changed version of the Madeline Schnibble pattern. I like this little quilt so much that I’m thankful for that “little” mistake!
For my local readers: Luci still has some of these charm packs at the shop, if you haven’t visited The Circle of Friends Quilt Shoppe yet I hope that you will soon! These little quilts will soon be on display in the shop.
