Baby quilt finish

My niece is due any day now and I've managed to get the new baby's quilt top finished this week.  I'm spending the day sewing with a friend on Saturday, and my goal is to get the back done and have the whole thing sandwiched up and ready to quilt!

Cheers,
Mary

Spent the better part of a day putting the blocks together...see?  three more to go on the bottom.

Ooops!  Look at what happened in the upper right corner.  I was so tired I didn't even notice this at first.

All done and waiting for the back.

Bloomin' Tuesday

A few photos of my new garden.  This is my first summer in the new (to me) house and it's great fun to see what will come up next.  There's lots of work to be done even though it is a small garden as it is overgrown...can't stress the importance of planning for mature size when creating your garden!  Oh well, that's part of the fun of gardening, right?  Getting to move things here and there and imagining what it will all look like when you are done...not that you are ever really done. :-)

Enjoy!
Mary

 

A view of the eastern corner of my backyard.  I love the contrast between the goldflame spirea in the lower left-hand corner, the perennial baby's breath and the purple salvia.  The pink flower is one of many varieties of yarrow. 

I have no idea what this flower is, have to peruse the gardening books.  There are three of them in the yard and they are all very tall..2 - 3 feet.

I have never seen white perennial cornflowers before.  I have several clumps of the blue in the yard as well, but these were a surprise.

Here's a view of the rest of the backyard..see my St Francis statue in the back?  He looks right at home.  Once more I'm not quite certain what the spiky white flower is in the foreground, but it's lovely and makes a nice contrast with my hot pink geraniums.

A hardy rosebush, a morden blush I believe.

When I see the backyard like this is looks lush and lovely, but it is really overgrown...

A little turtle hiding among the lady's mantle.

After the flood...quilting

Hello one and all, it's been madness here in Calgary the last 10 days.  Over 100,000 residents were evacuated from their homes due to unprecedented flooding in the city.  My family and I were/are incredibly fortunate as we did not have any flooding near our house.  We were glued to the television though as we really could not believe the images we were seeing....what a shock to see the Elbow and Bow rivers rise so high.  I spent a day with friends at a local quilt store making quilts for those in the city and the surrounding area who have lost all of their earthly possessions.  It was heartwarming to see so many people come into the store and drop off finished quilts, fabric squares and fabric donations.   Here's a link to My Sewing Room's newsletter if you want to see photos.

I cleared up my schedule yesterday and kept busy making quilt tops.  I have already dropped off three, using fabric from my stash and picked up donated fabric to make a few more...here are a few pics.

Mary

I made these blocks two years ago...just needed a little motivation to put them together.

 

Had these floral fabrics in my stash for a few years so it was nice to put this one together...a simple brick pattern.

 

 

Another project from my UFO pile, ready to go.

Used donated fabric for this one.  We wanted to be sure to make some masculine looking quilts.

10-inch blocks go together so quickly, you have a nice 40x50 quilt in no time.

 

 

Another masculine quilt using donated fabric.  They are all being long-armed now and will be ready to go this week!

Back in town and ready to quilt

Well hello again everyone.  It's been a few weeks since I last posted.  My dd and I made it back from our grand adventure to New York, Montreal and the drive to Calgary but I don't have one bit of fabric to show you.  No, I didn't make one single stop at a quilt store along the way...

...and this is why.  Driving a 17 foot long truck wasn't conducive to  meandering through streets in search of cozy quilt stores.  Plus, with all that space available in the back I would have been really tempted to fill up all the gaps between the furniture and boxes with fabric...imagine how much that would have cost!! lol

So now I am back in town and ready to quilt!  On your mark, get set, sew.....

Mary-Frances

One block down...eight to go

 

One quick post before I leave for NYC, Montreal and a drive across the prairies with my DD.  Will try to post on the road...who knows, I may stop at a quilt store or two along the way. :-)

 

Work on my baby urban nine-patch has come to a grinding halt as I ran out of the lovely peacock blue fabric.  More is on the way and will have to wait until my return. 

 

For the time being...here's a peek at a completed block.

 

 

Enjoy!

Mary-Frances

This is going to be a vibrant quilt...love that peacock blue from Kona!  Just noticed that my camera is set for 2012...ooops!  Better change that right away.

This is the nametag I made for our modern quilt guild challenge.  There were so many cute nametags made, with beads and charms...I must remember to take photos next time!  You could also find us on Facebook if you like...just search for Calgary Modern Quilt Guild.

Spring flowers are everywhere...

Even in my sewing room!  I walked into my LQS the other week and saw some lovely bloomin' fabric...little did I know, they are the latest arrivals from Liberty.  Bought a roll of quarter yard cuts, that's one of each fabric they had in-store.  They are far too pretty to cut just yet, I keep taking them off my fabric shelf and look at them...imagining all sorts of wonderful quilts to be made!

And when I haven't been doing that, I've been out in the garden.  My spring tulips finally opened and they are just a treat to see when I arrive home, so cheery.  There is much work to be done in the yard, even though it is a much smaller yard than my previous home.  All in good time though, right?  A garden is an ever evolving project, moving things here and there, planning, digging, planting, watering, weeding and taking time to enjoy the results of course!

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances

I was immediately drawn to the blue fabrics...

...but noticed the pastels too...so pretty.  Are these considered low volume I wonder?  Maybe not the blue, pink and yellow one.

What to do with these beauties???



 

Now for some real flowers!  I planted 50 bulbs last fall and all but 5 have come up.

I love the shades of pink on the Bergenia's  blooms...so vibrant!

Picked this up at my local Home Depot.  Their selection of planters gets better every year.

A little of this and a little of that

Hello all!  Just a quick post to show you what I've been up to.  More modern monday blocks made, which means I've finished my eight blocks for the month...just in time too as the guild meeting is tomorrow! 

Had to make a nametag for the guild, it's the smallest paper piecing I've done...so far.

And last but not least, began work in earnest on my baby boy quilt...not for me, but for my niece who is expecting her first child in July.

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances

My spools block...could have made those inner triangles a wee bit bigger.

I love this block, it's in the running for my favourite so far.  However, it turned out 1-inch larger than it should be, so will have to cut it down, which will add to the wonkiness but I don't want to just yet!

Didn't I tell you this was small?  2.5 inches...won't be doing that again!  Still need to add some white fabric on the bottom so I can write my name, add backing, quilt minimally, add binding and bring to my guild tomorrow...hahaha!

Piecing the nine-patches together.  I'm making a modified Urban nine-patch pattern using my Quick Curve Ruler.

Making the first cut...eek!

Ok, so far so good.  Three more sides to go!

This is what I have so far.  All nine blocks made, the turquoise sections for the blocks are cut out and have started on the outer arcs as well...more to come next time!

modern monday blocks

Hello all, just a quick note to show that I have been in the sewing room and I did make two additional blocks for my modern monday quilt yesterday. 

It was such a beautiful day here on Monday, sunny and warm, warm,warm!!  I wanted to spend time tidying up the garden but was happily distracted by the great giveaways available in the blogosphere....man oh man, I cannot believe all the fabric and books and other goodies to be found.

Sew Mama Sew is hosting her semi-annual giveaway extravaganza.  There are 275 bloggers listed who are having giveaways and just as importantly, are willing to ship their prizes internationally...yoohoo! 

Have fun!
Mary-Frances

Well, if you've stuck around to check out the photos, thank you!  Here's the whole gang so far, 20 blocks made of 64.



Here's my wonky bars.  This used up some of the smaller scraps which I was glad to do. 



This little sweetheart was paper pieced.  I quite like it even though the photo is rubbish.  Two more blocks to make this week and I've completed my eight blocks for the month...which means I'm actually keeping up with everyone else in the guild - yoohoo!

May the 4th be with you!!

Happy Star Wars Day one and all....;-)

The force was with me yesterday as I was super motivated to get four more blocks done on my Modern Monday quilt.  The sun was shining and my garden needed tending, but I was in the groove and didn't want to leave my cozy sewing room...I didn't even want to stop and make supper (thank goodness for leftovers and microwave ovens, right?). 

I have four more blocks to do this month before our next modern quilt guild meeting and I need to make myself a nametag...kinda stuck on that one...what to do?  I have another week to mull that one over.

Enjoy!
Mary

Here are the latest blocks for my Modern Monday quilt.

Block 17 - hour glass variation, not sure what happened when I made this one but it is 1/2 inch too small....oh well.

Block 19 - another star block..I love star blocks, one of my faves

Block 20 - wonky shoo fly 

Block 18 - wonky flying geese

Almost finished

Hello everyone, what a crazy week this has been.  More divorce nonsense to deal with, DD's 24th birthday (which was lovely) and interviews for my fall practicum have kept me away from the sewing room this week.  I do have one little project that is nearly done, only the binding to go.

Here, take a peek, won't you?

Enjoy!
Mary

I'm almost done this table runner, just need to add the binding.  I bought the quick curve ruler and wanted to test it out.

I did the quilting myself, something I hope to do more of in the coming months.  I stitched in the ditch around the curves then did a back and forth pattern, a ribbon stitch or soft zig zag?  Not sure what to call it.



I filled the spaces between the curves with circles, they look a little like pebbles, don't they?




I've also started a new project for my niece's first child, due in July.  The colours are wonderful and I love this print for a baby boy.



I'm using the quick curve ruler for this one as well...here are the four blocks cut and ready to go.  I'm bringing this project with me to the quilt-along this Saturday night, so I will have more photos for you next week!




I'm using the Urban Nine-Patch pattern, but will make a crib size quilt, so there will only be nine blocks.

Building up the stash...

Sooo, you know how we often make resolutions at the beginning of the year and then sooner or later we just happen to forget about them?  I had this brilliant idea in January (I blame the cold weather) to only use fabric from my stash this year, meaning no major fabric purchases for me.  Well, I didn't so much forget as blatantly ignored my resolultion, I mean, who can resist the siren call of fresh fabric?

Take a peek at some of my purchases this month.  And yes, I've been very, very, naughty.  So much so, that I think my daughters are about to confiscate my credit card! :-)

Enjoy!
Mary

It all began with two, teeny tiny, itty bitty fat quarters.  I mean, are those little birds adorable or what??  I just had to take them home, and I couldn't very well leave the dotty fabric there all alone either...

...and then I saw this delightful fabric with it's gold and orange tones on a muted turquoise background..

...and this Denise Schmidt fabric was just too much fun...

...and these grey's were just calling my name...so who can say no to that?

These lovelies arrived in the mail a week ago, I ordered this from Sew Sisters.

I love the look of these oversized zigzags... these are very much outside my comfort zone...eek!

A fun neutral with grey and white dots on a black background.

And these are my Kona solids, I'm a member of the Kona solids club over at Sew Sisters and each month I receive four different fat quarters...so this is what I've received since I joined last September.  No clue what I'm going to do with them, but they sure are pretty to look at!