Summer Sampler 2020

 

This is Vicki's Summer Sampler 2020   It was marketed as being the Summer of Easy Piecing, and after doing SS 2019 BootCamp, 2020 was definitely easier, but still had lots of skill building with curves, paper piecing, on point blocks.  Again, I really like the setting on these blocks--the way the sashing was put together to create the angles was very neat.  

It was fun to quilt Vicki's version of this as her color selections were different from mine, so neat to see how the blocks can look so different.  

I really like her fabric choices, but I decided she'd notice if I gave her mine back instead of hers .  I quilted an Edge to Edge modern freehand spiral.

Camping Quilts

 

Cheryl made these three quilts with camping themed fabric for friends of hers.  I used a topographical freehand design on this one, which I thought went with the camping theme and also I always love the texture this design provides.

Simple squares set on point can be so effective in creating quilts.   It doesn't always have to be complicated.

 

For the second one I switched it up a little and quilted a boxy meander, that way if the recipients are together they'd know instantly whose quilt was whose.

The third quilt was this Rails quilt--again very effective.  For this one I followed the piecing and quilted u-turns in a basket weave pattern.

Paper Chain Block of the Month

 

 

Vicki made this Paper Chain, which was a block of the month in 2020 

 

and how I got started on doing the Summer Sampler's (2019 can be seen here)

 

The blocks were, I believe, all paper pieced, and with Vicki's background matching her setting units the blocks just float on the background, which is a fabulous effect.    I wanted to add a very regular texture so the quilting would fade back, but also so it could give a bit of interest to all the navy.  a lighter thread was used because darker just read as too dark across the piecing (which is what should be the focus of the quilt), and with the regularity of the pantograph, the lighter stitching just adds a bit of oomph to the background.  The pantograph I used is called Square Spiral.

Winter Attic Window

 

This is Noreen's Winter Attic Window, and the scene in the panel is just so much fun.  I once again kept the quilting simple looking, so the panel could shine.

The lighting on this makes it hard to tell, but I've quilted a large rectangular grid across the window panes, and added straight lines on the sills.  Ribbon candy on the sill sides and in the forest border.

Mountain Elevations 2

 

This is Louise's Mountain Abstractions Mt Hood, which is a Violet Craft pattern

 

There are so many things I love about Louise's interpretation of this quilt--the navy night sky, the bison and other woodland animal fabrics,

the birch trees and the larch...

look at the motion in the fabric of the dark night sky...

 

Mirage

 

Lori made this Mirage quilt, which is a pattern by Laurie Shifrin

We decided an edge to edge E's and 3's was the best design for this quilt. 

I realized when looking up the pattern link that the first photo is sideways to the pattern--luckily Lori took a photo oriented top up and sent it to me--all bound and ready for her bed.

Quilters Playcation: Crumbs

 

Cheryl Arkison is a local Calgary quilter whose work and writing I really enjoy.  She started offering Playcations--a zoom class where she did some demo work, and allowed and encouraged the students to play and visit.  I did a crumb block playcation and had a lot of fun with it.  

 

oops--totally not a flattering screengrab --sorry Cheryl.

I always enjoy listening to Cheryl talk about quilting....if you're looking for a fun way to spend an evening and maybe a chance to learn a new skill, I recommend a Playcation.  Improv is still really hard for me, but each time I try it I like it more so I persist.

I know it seems like a very random and motley crew of fabrics--but I had saved all these crumbs from making one quilt, so I felt sure they belonged together.   These were the leftover bits from my Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt blocks quilt.  which I did as a block of the month at Along Came Quilting. way back in 2015.  I'll add one photo below but if you want to see more follow the link above to my original blog post. 

Angela's Rails

 

Angela made this quilt for Blankets of Love.   She even got her husband involved in piecing this one!    The request from the charity was that there be hearts in the quilt, so Angela got some heart fabric and I freehand quilted a loopy hearts pattern. 

Angela chose the cheeriest of backings for this project

Bright Stars and Cats

 

Ruth brought me this quilt she had made for her granddaughter.   She paid great attention to the piecing and getting all the fabrics oriented in the same direction.

I decided to try this Christina Cameli design, which to me looks like the cats have been playing in the yarn.

Birch Point

                 

This is one of my quilts--Birch Point by the Blanket Statement Company 

She's a Canadian pattern designer, so most of her patterns have Canadian place names.  This quilt was a great weekend project.

I had been watching fabric pulls on social media Kendra was doing at  Piece Fabric co and really liking them, so I gave it a try.  It was fun to have Kendra select the fabrics as a mail order experience, I told her the pattern and a color palette (green, blue and tan)--she texted back with photos of selections and I think really I only changed one or two from her initial fabric pull.  I'll definitely try that again!  

I don't often use pantos, but I thought Square Spiral would be great on this quilt--

how can you not have fun with a pattern like this??

I'll definitely make this pattern again. 

On Ringo Lake modified

 

This is Kerri's version of Bonnie Hunters Mystery Quilt On Ringo Lake   Kerri left out the sashing, using it as a border instead.  I just love her fabrics and colors.

I quilted a freehand clamshell, a design I learned from Christina Cameli

Kerri has many many fabrics, so it is a scrappy quilt, with lots of interest when you look close at the fabrics, but because she controlled her colors really well it reads more uniformly and the design from the piecing shows really clearly.

I used Christina Cameli's freehand clams on this quilt--I was so pleased with the texture and effect when I had used it previously, I had been waiting for another quilt with piecing sized appropriately to use the piecing to gauge the placement of the clamshells. 

Noreens Attic Window--Fall

 

Noreen is making a series of seasonal attic window quilts to hang in her home.  This is the fall version.   I decided we'd be looking through diamond window panes at this lovely scene.  

 

I started with marking the spacing for the diamonds before loading the quilt--this button hole spacer worked really well to mark these divisions, as the math was odd for using ruler measurements.

and the chalk markings

some wood-grain in the windowsills and e and l loops in the foliage border.