Leap Day

In honour of this rare day, we are having a rare sale!  Free shipping (in North America) on all printed patterns ordered from my website, until midnight tonight (Feb.29).  The postage will be manually subtracted from your order once the payment goes through - no coupon required! 

Dresden Lap Quilt

Some Dresden sunshine, for a dreary winter day! (Can you see the face quilted in the sun?)

I have been sewing Dresden fan blades in spare moments, just for the sheer pleasure of it.

This is the pattern for my lap/wheelchair quilt, meant to be cheery.  It was pieced and quilted using Aurifil 50 weight thread. thread.  In addition to the sun, there are feathers. scrolls and rays of sunshine free-motion quilted around the Dresdens.

  The soft flannel backing makes this cuddly and cosy. 

You can download the pattern here at Craftsy.  If you are interested in purchasing the quilt, kindly email.
We are having a grey, drizzly day of freezing rain;  wish I could quilt a sun in the sky!

Travelling Quilts

I haven't been keeping up very well with posting where my quilts have been, so here's an update on a peripatetic pair,"Yadanabon" and "Log Canada". By a rather odd coincidence, both of these quilts will end their current display schedules this summer in Texas!

"Yadanabon", which is part of the travelling Hoffman Challenge show, has been criss-crossing the U.S. since last fall. 

Since the grand opening show at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Festival in Loveland, Colorado, it has appeared at the following venues:

Sept 2015: Amish Country Quilt Show, Ohio.
Sept 2015: Hardy Country Heritage Quilt Show, West Virginia.
Oct 2015: Washington State Quilters, Spokane.
Nov 2015: Davies Manor Quilt and Fibre Arts Show, TN.
Jan 2016: World Quilt Florida (Mancuso), FL

Upcoming shows for "Yadanabon" are:
April 2016: Huntington Quilters, NY.
June 2016: Common Threads Quilt Show, Wichita, KS.
July 2016: Garland, TX. 

"Log Canada" has been in constant motion around the world since it was first created in 2009. I am honoured to say it has represented Canada at many top quilt shows, often as the opening quilt,  and has been part of the IQF Ruby Jubilee Exhibit since 2014.

As part of this show, it has appeared at:

International Quilt Festival/Houston, October 30 – November 2, 2014
International Quilt Festival/Chicago, March 26-28, 2015
Quilt! Knit! Stitch! in Portland, Oregon, August 13-15, 2015

Now, I am  pleased to learn that "Log Canada" has been selected to be displayed at the Texas Quilt Museum,La Grange, TX, June 30 – September 25, 2016. 

This means that in July, the two quilts will be about 200 miles from each other...4000 miles from home :)

The Fellowship Of The Fabric

When I spent the day at Mrs Pugsley's on Friday, I got introduced to the new fabrics...and of course I invited some home to play with my stash. I'd like you to meet Quilter's Rose, by Stof; Fusions by Judy Hand for Robert Kaufman; Cotton Couture by Michael Miller; the twins, Radiant Gradient by Hoffman (fraternal twins they are: Fire and Olivia); and 3 lovely pieces of Northcott flannel.

These pictures do not do the Radiant Gradients justice. This is Olivia:

 ...and this is Fire.  My Precioussssss....

I know exactly what I want to make with the gradients, but I also want a day or two to admire them in their entirety before I begin cutting.  I will start with a flannel (probably the top green) to back this lap/wheelchair quilt.

The yellows will make a sunny binding, and more centres for future Dresden projects.

Embroidered Sailboat Quilt

The stitching day last Friday at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium went very smoothly, and I thank all who turned out to watch me free motion embroider this little sailboat quilt. With a size 16 topstitch needle in the Bernina, and blue 12 weight Aurifil thread, it took no time at all to stitch up this adorable quilt. (Apologies for the photos; it's winter in Nova Scotia, and the light is a bit of a challenge.)

I used a stencil to mark the sailboats, which were stitched in the heavy thread.  Borders and outlining were done free motion using Aurifil 50 weight.

Some folks were keen to stick around and watch the binding process, so I stayed and did the whole thing (luckily, I had made the binding at home and tucked it in my bag just in case.) 

When I packed up to come home after hours of stitching, I popped up the throat plate on the machine intending to clean out the fuzz from the thread.  There wasn't any. Not a speck. I'll talk more about that in another blog post :) 

It measures 38" x 44", which is a nice, generous size for a baby quilt. Mrs Pugsley's has this fabric available in her shop, and will include  free directions as well. This quilt is available for purchase from me if you aren't inclined to make your own. Remember that I also stock and sell Aurifil threads, and have a good supply of colours and weights currently in stock.
Thank you to Beth and Jackie of Mrs Pugsley's Emporium for being such wonderful hosts for a fun day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Click here to download the free pattern for this mug mat.

Pop Up Reminder

Just to confirm, tomorrow (Friday, February 12) I will be popping in (and up) at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium from 10-2, with a display of Aurifil threads. By chance, a new order arrived in very early this morning so there's a great selection of thread, in various weights and colours.

There are a couple of new threads in this order which I haven't tried out as yet.  This one is a 60 weight cotton, and is marked for "machine embroidery".  It will also make a great bobbin thread.

 These large spools hold 1500 metres.

I also received some silver and gold metallic rayon threads, and I can't wait to try these out!

Several more colours of the 12 weight thread are in, and I used the blue to stitch out this sweet snowman.  The pattern is by Kathy Schmitz, and is a free download from her website, www.KathySchmitz.com  Using the 12 weight for free motion stitching is like doing hand embroidery by machine...although I understand this thread is also great for hand embroidery.

I am off to clean and oil my Bernina, and start packing up the goodies.  See you at 10!

Put A Pin In It

Because of the weather forecast for tomorrow - 20 cm of snow and some freezing rain - the Aurifil demo at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium has been rescheduled for next Friday, Feb 12, from 10 am to 2 pm.
Me being me...the biggest challenge will not be dealing with the weather;  it will be resisting the urge to quilt this little blue and white gem before then.  It's awfully cute...:)