Halloween

 

Kimberley brought me this fun quilt to work on.   Not only are the fabrics fun, but the story is fun too.  Kimberley, her mother, and her daughter Megan all made this quilt together.  Grandma is teaching the others how to quilt.  Kimberley cut and pressed, Megan sewed.

 Kimberley and I discussed a few different designs, and decided on E's and 3's.   If you look in the yellow-orange rectangle above it's easy to see how this design got its name.

 Grandma is a good quilting instructor,  because this quilt was perfectly flat and square. 

 Kimberley chose to have a neon orange thread on the top, and neon green in the bobbin.   Once I got the quilt off the frame and it relaxed a little, I can see pokes of orange on the backing.  We had discussed that likelihood ahead of time as well, and Kimberley decided that was OK, and I think once the quilt is washed they won't show.

Star Storm Mini

I saw this Victoria Findlay Wolfe pattern, Star Storm Mini and wanted to make it.  I couldn't find any Canadian suppliers of the pattern, so ordered it directly from VFW.

In July, a few of my quilty friends and I went to Purple Katz's grand opening of their new storefront in Rimbey, Alberta, and I found fabric for this quilt there.  It wasn't an easy fabric pull, but we manged.   There is a lot of Alison Glass fabric in here.  

 

It's a little easier to see how the fabric pairings work in this second photo, taken when I got the fabrics home and had to pet and adore them for a while.  

My only regret in the fabric choices is putting the Mariners stripe in the very center star--it was very bulky for joining all the wedges, I think my center points would have matched much better with regular cotton.   I might have to make this quilt again, just to test my theory.

Terry Rowland was in Purple Katz that day as well, and she played fabrics with me for a while.  She also suggested that rather than using the templates provided in the pattern construction she'd make it using paper-less paper piecing.  I'd never tried that before so googled a tutorial or two--I like this one by Bryan House Quilts  and decided to give it a go.  Loved it!  It was a great method for this quilt. 

 I had fun with the quilting.  I double batted, which maybe made it a little too poofy for some tastes, but I love the texture I got.    The binding is machined on in these photos, but still needed the hand stitching.   Luckily for me, my friend Yvonne had lots of time for handwork this summer, and she stitched all my bindings for me, leaving me more time for quilting. 

Good Fortune to Mis-Fortune back to Good Fortune

I made Bonnie Hunter's 2018 Mystery Quilt Good Fortune


I got all the way to this stage, and realized something was wrong- I wasn't happy with the top, I couldn't see the secondary designs I had hoped to see....were my fabric choices really wrong? 

 Nope--I figured out the next day as I was laying out the first pieced border that I had assembled every blue block incorrectly.    Now this quilt was called Mis-Fortune!    I took the corner one off and took it apart to rearrange.  They should have looked like the block below.

I left it be for a day or two, consulted some wise and experienced quilting friends.   I was a little concerned about ripping the whole quilt apart, especially because all the units in the blue blocks are triangles, thus bias, thus prone to stretch.   I had pretty nice points and a flat quilt top as it was, and was concerned I'd not be happy with a ripped apart and re-stitched quilt top.

And ultimately decided to leave it be.  

 I took off one column and added it as an extra row to the bottom, which meant some adjustments and a coping strip instead of the first pieced border according to the pattern.

 This quilt was made 100% with materials I had on hand--in my stash.  I cannot say that very often, so that was fun.   I think one of the reasons I wanted to make this quilt was because I wanted to use that orange floral. 

 Moving that column to a row, changing the quilt from square to rectangle to change the dimensions is what turned it back to Good Fortune again--this quilt is now an appropriate size and will be donated to Quilts of Valour which I think is a very good thing.
 

 I even had this backing in the stash....good fortune again :) 

Baby Quilts

 I also quilted several baby quilts for our guilds donation quilts this summer.     Top photo is a ribbon meander.

 This one got loops, and I didn't (at least not consciously) realize the backing had loops on it until I was done with the quilting. 

 E's and 3's on this cozy flannel quilt. 

 these pond creatures on the back look pretty happy

 and this last one got some light custom quilting, have to keep myself entertained :)

Ronda's baby quilts

I mentioned in the previous post that my friend had come to visit and sew for a few days this summer.   She managed to get these two baby quilts together, and she was focused.  We had planned some hammock/reading time in the backyard, but we only did that once.

These are only the second and third quilts she has made.  She is still early in her quilting journey.

 This one is a Yellow Brick Road, pattern by Atkinson designs.    Greys and whites and blacks, little foxes and bears and paw prints.    6 fat quarters, no borders makes a lovely baby sized quilt, 36x45.

 The colour is all on the back, with this lovely cuddle fabric that spells out baby.  I put a box meander on this quilt.

 This quilt has horses and skates and snowflakes.   The piecing pattern is Quarter Sections by Highway 10 designs.  I also do this one with 6 FQ, no borders, and it is a very similar size, approx 37x45.

 I quilted a ribbon meander on this one which adds a lovely flowing texture. 

 and this quilt also got a cuddle backing.

I

Pathways

Pathways is a quilt I made this summer as a gift for a special young man.   I loved working with the Moda Shibori fabrics, and it was a simple, yet effective quilt to make.  I think I'll make this pattern again.   12 FQ and background.

 I was able to put these blocks together in July when my friend came for a few days and we sewed.  It was lots of fun to visit and sew. 

 Before quilting. 

and the backing--a lovely red cuddle, as the recipients favorite color is red. 

Dandelions

Colleen made this quilt for a family members wedding gift.   The kit was called Dandelions and had beautiful fabrics.

 a lovely navy cuddle fabric on the back--it photographed more blue than it is.