New York, New York

Last year as part of a fund-raiser for the N.S. Fibre Arts Festival, Polly and I made and donated this quilt called, New York, New York.

It appeared on the cover of Quilter's Connection magazine, with instructions inside.  However, because of space requirements, the foundations and templates were printed at a reduced size so it was necessary to get them enlarged at a copy shop. The pattern is now available with all the pieces at full size so you can get started right away.

I confess it's one of my all time favourite quilts - bold, bright, and full of life.  It's pieced from gorgeous hand-dyed  Hoffman 1895 Bali watercolours, and heavily quilted with wild and crazy feathers.

Polly liked it too.

It's available from my website, pattern # 615. 

September's Embers

September has been an amazingly jam-packed month.  In addition to lots of new stitching projects, it has included returning youngest to university, taking off the honey and starting fall feeding for the bees, preparing a booth for Fibre Arts Festival, getting a twin-sized quilt finished for publication in Quilter's Connection magazine, and even a short get-away with hubby.  This past weekend, Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium was a vendor at the Sunrise Quilt Guild Show in Tatamagouche, and I went along to help.  There is never a dull moment with Mrs. P: Beth booked us a caboose at the Train Station Inn.

How fun is that?

 You could climb up in the little cupola and get a great view.

The caboose had two bedrooms, and all the comforts of home...albeit on a somewhat reduced scale.

My room had a queen-sized bed and a fireplace; there's even a big TV hiding behind those doors.

The pillowcases were a nice touch. 

I bought a pair in the gift shop as a souvenir. (I did not steal the pillowcases, Cheryl!! :))

The quilt show was just across the road at the Fraser Cultural Centre.  The Sunrise Quilt Guild may be small in numbers but they are certainly big on talent.

The quilts were fabulous, and it was extra special to have so many of the guild members on-hand for the entire show to talk about their quilts.

Deb Plestid is a member of this guild and she had several extraordinary pieces on display.

Member Grace made a trip home to bring in her Maritime Beauty to show me. She had just pieced this, it's waiting to be quilted.  Gorgeous work, Grace - I love the colours you chose!

I hope now to stitch out the month so should have some finished pieces to show you soon!

Myrna's New York Roundabout Again

I love seeing my patterns done in different colours and prints.  Have a look at this beauty from Myrna Allison of British Columbia:

Light and dark purple, highlighted by a soft green, makes for a very pretty combination.  Myrna gifted this to some very happy friends to be used as a table topper.  Thanks for sharing, Myrna!
You can find the pattern for Roundabout Again here.

More Aurifil!

The response to the Aurifil thread has been fabulous, so I ordered in some more!  Currently there are 3 weights of thread available in the large spools- 50, 28 and 12 weight - as well 200 m minispools in 50 weight. I am loving doing up the thread orders!

The thread is priced below retail, and if you purchase a speciality set of 4 minispools, you save even more.

The colours are sorted for spring, greens, fall, variegated, and colours.

This is not all up on my website as yet, but please email for pricing and postage.  If you are local, you can pick it up here at the house or at the Zonta Bazaar on October 17.

There's even more coming this week! :)

N.S. Fibre Arts Festival 2015

It's been just awesome to receive so many emails asking whether I am doing a workshop for Fibre Arts Festival this year.  I am not.  However, I will be part of the Zonta Bazaar on Saturday, the closing day of the festival.
It's been a few years since I did any real vending at shows so it feels as if I am starting all over figuring out the logistics of setting up a workable booth in short order.  One thing I do recall is that it's important to have more than just books, patterns, and thread so that the non-quilting customers aren't left out.  To this end, I have been spending spare moments making zippered pouches out of my stash fabrics.  It's been a lot of fun to say the least.

The fabrics are all top-line quilting cottons, and each pouch is lined with a coordinating print or solid from the same line.

In addition to toiletries, gadgets, or what-have-you, these bags are the perfect size to carry a small knitting project, like a pair of socks.

I had this Robert Kaufman daisy print in four different colourways, and matched the lining and zippers to each. I had a lot of fun making these!

The bags are stiffened with heavy weight interfacing and feature a flat bottom, so they stand up on their own.  They are fully washable.

The countdown to the Fibre Arts Festival is on, only about a month away now, and I will continue to sew more bags in my spare moments. The Zonta Bazaar is being held Saturday, October 17 from 10 am to 5 pm at the Col. James Layton Ralston Armoury, 36 Acadia Street in Amherst. (that's right downtown and very easy to find).  Hope to see you there!

Congrats to Jeanne Kaye!

Congratulation to Jeanne Kaye Speight, who had added another to her ribbon collection!

Not only did Jeanne Kaye's Quilt Of Learning take a second place ribbon at the New Brunswick Exhibition, Jeanne Kaye also won the Grand Champion Sewing rosette. Wow!

You can see Jeanne's entire quilt in this post, and download the pattern for The Quilt Of Learning here.

Last year, Jeanne won a first place ribbon at the NB Ex with her Santa's Trip Around The World. 
Way to go, Jeanne Kaye!

Picton Fabric World

September is a super busy month in the quilting world:  guilds are reconvening, teachers are preparing for workshops, quilts are being finished up for show deadlines, and shops are ordering new patterns for their customers.  In the past month, I've picked up several new stores where my patterns will be available.  I'd like to welcome aboard Picton Fabric World, in Picton Ontario.

If you are in the area, stop in to 261 Main Street to check out what's available!

Colour Cards

Do you have - and use - colour cards in your quilting?  They are a great resource to have on hand when choosing colours for a quilt, especially for online shopping.  The cards are available for purchase from most manufacturers for their on-going lines.

I have two colour cards for Mirror Ball Dot.  The first was for the original release of this very popular fabric.

It was updated last year when Michael Miller released new colours, so I had to have that one too!

Fairy Frost is an extensive line with lots of colours;  the card is really more like a book.

It's fun to flip through the pages, and be able to feel the actual swatches of fabric.

I also have colour cards for threads from different manufacturers, which allows me to match thread to fabric without guessing.

The one from Wonderfil flips open like a fan.

Earlier this year, I used Hoffman Watercolour Handpaints in the Stuffle and In The Summertime and having a colour card made the fabric selection much easier.

 When this colour card is folded out, it's 85" of gorgeousness.

Sadly, these beautiful displays of colour get folded up and tucked away.  Leave it to Hoffman to come up with a BRILLIANT way to show their entire 1895 Watercolour line.  This digitally printed Watercolor Palette cotton panel contains all 372 colours.

It is so pretty on its own that all I added was a bit of quilting to make a wallhanging for my sewing room.  I bordered and bound it with some of my favourite watercolours.

I simply stitched straight lines around each colour, and then added some squiggly lines vertically between each section to make the little pillows pop out.

It's fun to read the colour names, and ponder the thought behind each.  There are visual representations for April, Thanksgiving, Breeze, London...and Peter!

On the Hoffman website, you can find this pattern for a quilt made using the panel by  Linda Fitch; it's beyond clever. The panels are available from Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium, and I understand are selling quickly.

This is one colour card that won't get folded up and tucked out of sight.