BOM

Back in 2013, some of the members of my quilt group and I shared in a Block of the Month project.  There were 6 of us who participated.  Each of us shared a pieced block pattern and a machine appliqued block pattern, so a total of 12 blocks.  All of the blocks finished at 12".  We each chose the fabrics we wanted to work with and the final layout of our quilts.  I shared most of the quilt tops with you back in January 2014.

I really wanted to try to do some custom quilting using the computer on the Statler and I thought this would be a great quilt to try it on. So a few weeks ago I did just that.

I chose a design for the borders, one for the sashing, one for corner stones, one for the pieced blocks and a different one for the appliqued blocks.  I used a beige thread that blended in very well with the background fabric.  In hind sight, I could've used a darker thread so the quilting would show up a little more but as this was my first time doing custom work and getting used to using the machine I wanted it to blend in, just in case.  I really love the texture the quilting gave to the quilt, and those little corner stones are my favourite part!!

I had so much fun quilting this!  I am really getting the hang of the computerized machine and I am loving the results.  

You will notice a new tab at the top of my blog called machine quilting services.  I am now offering machine quilting services so if you would like something quilted, I hope you will consider sending your quilt my way.  I would love to quilt for you too!

Here is my BOM quilt in its new spot, hanging in my dining room.... just perfect for the fall! 

I just love that texture!

Minecraft

My friend commissioned me to make a Minecraft Quilt for her Minecraft loving son.

I know nothing about Minecraft except that it is a computer game, so I went searching online.  I found a blog called Slightly Off Quilter.  She used EQ7 to figure out all of the fabric requirements and cutting diagrams for each block, and she shared them all on her blog.  There are no directions per say, but everything I needed was there.

I had a lot of fun making this quilt, even though I know nothing about the game.  It was a lot of work but very satisfying.  For most of the blocks, the squares were cut at 2.5" and the blocks finished at 16".  The hardest blocks of course were the axe and the sword with smaller squares cut at 1.5 inches.

I quilted it with a simple meander with a beige thread.  I didn't want the thread to show in the faces or the quilting to take away from the piecing.  

I finally mailed off the quilt this week so Duncan should receive it next week some time.  I hope he likes it.

Also, I wanted to let you all know that I am now offering longarm machine quilting services!

I will be adding a tab at the top of my blog where you will be able to find all the info. It should be up in a couple of days.

I hope you will consider me the next time you decide to send a quilt to someone to have it quilted!

A special swap and new friends

I have been participating in swaps on IG for a while now and it is always fun to make new friends with common interests. I love going to the mailbox and getting Happy Mail! My girls love seeing the packages I get and helping me open them. They think it's cool that people from other parts of the world have made something for me. And they love helping me pick fabrics and threads for the projects I work on for others.

Last spring, someone I follow on IG (Violet) posted a photo of her daughter sewing and she asked if anyone had kids who would be interested in swapping with her daughter. I haven't shared with you here on my blog yet, but both my girls finished their first quilts, and they have made quite a few cushions and zipper pouches and bags for friends so I told Violet that my girls would love to swap with her daughter.

So we sent each other the essential information, likes and dislikes and decided we would mail out the swaps towards the end of the summer.

The girls loved working on their mini quilts over the summer break. I helped a little with design but they did all the sewing themselves. They were really happy to be making something for a new friend, and for someone who lives in the U.S. (another country!) made it even more fun.

 

 

The girls received their mini quilts as well and they loved them. They really got the essence of what it is to participate in a swap. They had fun running to the mail box every day after they mailed their package too. I love sharing all of this with them! And I'm glad they are making quilty friends too!

 

 

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