Welcome Aboard!

As many locals now know, Mrs Pugsley's Emporium recently began stocking Island Batik fabrics. For me personally, that's a big WOO HOO to be able to get these gorgeous fabrics locally!  Included in the first load of fabric the shop received, was a white and blue anchor print which took my fancy. Paired up with blue, red and yellow, these bright primaries are perfect for a baby quilt.

But what should the design be?  Clearly, with the anchors as background, it needed to be something nautical.  Hmmm..cute+ nautical = whale, to me!  My other consideration is that the anchors in the print run in a straight line, so I decided to leave that line uninterrupted, and appliqué the whale in the centre.  He looked a little lost there for a bit, so I threw him a life preserver :)

It took some playing around with sizing the whale to get him just the perfect size, but I am secure in saying he is the Right Whale...(despite being a Blue Whale.)

My mandate in designing this quilt was to make it as beginner friendly as possible, and turning the edges of the ring left me stumped for a bit. Raw edge fusible is not always the answer.  I let it sit a couple of days, and woke up one night with the solution - an ingenious one, if I may say so.  Super easy to sew and no pressing under the edges to get that perfect edge.

Borders were left purposely simple as well, with the addition of small star blocks in the corners.

I chose an arsenal of my favourite Aurifil threads for the stitching.  I used 40 weight to blanket stitch around the whale and ring, and also in the bobbin.  

Aurifil 12 weight was used to stitch his eye and his big happy smile.

The backing fabric is a cuddly yellow flannel I purchased at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium, and the batting is my favourite Hobbs wool. While quilting, I got the idea to free motion quilt something in the life preserver;  HMCS Halifax was what came to mind, so I Googled to see how it would be stitched.  

Nearly every image in my search showed this:

What a perfect sentiment for a baby quilt: welcome aboard!  

I stitched it on using blue thread so it would show up.

I think this space would also be great to personalize the quilt, and stitch the little one's name and birth date:

The outer blue border is quilted in a rope design. The quilt is 32-1/2” x 36-1/2” and suitable for a beginner quilter.

You can find the pattern for Welcome Aboard locally at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium, 50 Victoria Street East, Amherst, N.S., or purchase a kit with the exact fabrics used. The kits are exclusive to Mrs Pugsley's Emporium, and the sample quilt is on display in the shop.
Patterns are also available as a mail-out from my website. or can be downloaded instantly here.  As always, the pattern is in colour, with appliqué shapes and templates given at full size and ready to sew (no enlarging).
A sincere thank you to Cheryl Coville of Grandma CoCo Designs for her help in editing the pattern.
Welcome Aboard, little ones!

A Very Musical Ride: Row By Row 2018

As you may have seen on Mrs Pugsley's Emporium Face Book post, I was again asked to design the shop's "Row By Row" entry for the 2018 season.  The theme this year is "Sew Musical".  Hmmm...musical...musical...in a Canadian word association game, that would always be followed by "ride", i.e. the Musical Ride of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

So...Musical Ride it is!

If you are not familiar with the Musical Ride, I encourage you to visit this link. From their website, it says, "The RCMP Musical Ride is performed by a full troop of 32 riders and their horses. Their performance consists of intricate figures and drills choreographed to music. These movements demand the utmost control, timing and coordination...The Musical Ride provides the opportunity to experience the heritage and traditions of the RCMP. The riders act as ambassadors of goodwill who promote the RCMP's image throughout Canada and all over the world."

I've had the honour of seeing these riders and horses perform, and it's pretty spectacular.  So...how does one portray that in a 9" x 36" piece of fabric, and keep it simple enough that it can be replicated by even a beginner quilter?  No small challenge.

In simplifying the Musical Ride to the smallest common denominator, a couple of elements stuck out:  a circle of red serge coats, dark horses, and lances.

The lances were easy enough, but that circle of red coats was daunting, until it dawned on me it doesn't have to be individual jackets, it just needed to be a circle of red. Simplify, simplify,simplify. My very messy sketch showed that a modified Drunkard's Path block would be perfect for a semi-circle on each end, with the addition of two Delectable Mountain blocks to resemble maple leaves.

I pieced these several times to get the easiest method and best size.  I love how they look!

The horse for the centre was inspired by the Mountie logo, seen on signs and cars: (except that the horse needed to go in the other direction *-):

Our lone rider is stripped down to the barest striking characteristics: dark horse, red jacket, big hat, and lance.

Once I had a rough sketch, it went to Mrs Pugsley's Emporium to see if she was interested.  She was, and commissioned me to create the pattern.  The next step was to contact the licensing department of the RCMP in Ottawa to see what they thought of the whole idea. I had to sew an actual mock-up of the design for approval. They loved it, and gave their blessing right away.  It is important to stress that one cannot simply use someone else's logo or graphics in a quilt design;  the images are protected under copyright law.  Last year, we applied for and received permission from the Queen to use the Canada 150 logo, and now this year we have permission from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  Very cool :)

We used fabrics similar to those chosen for last year's row:  Kona cotton in pure white, Canada red, black, and cocoa.  At the top of the banner, I free motioned "O Canada" and at the bottom, "We Stand On Guard." The "d"'s are actually musical notes.

 Aurifil 2265 Lobster is a perfect match for Canada Red!

Throughout the design, I quilted in a few maple leaves.

 The design works both vertically and horizontally, as did last year's Row, so I did two versions, varying the quilting a bit for each. As always, the pattern went to Cheryl Coville in Ontario for editing.  Her eagle eye picks up all my mistakes :)

Mrs Pugsley's chose the vertical row for their pattern cover, so it was photographed against the Clock Tower building, as have been the two previous rows. Continuity is important.

It's always fun to take some glamour shots, so I headed down to RCMP headquarters to see if there were any upcoming events that might involve Mounties in full uniform.  There weren't...but we were generously given the run of the detachment to photograph the rows wherever we liked.  

Not bad...but I was determined to find a real Mountie in uniform...

After much wheedling and cajoling, I was very kindly offered the use of a uniform - officer not included- with strict instructions that no one was to wear the jacket.  Agreed!!

I'd never been this close to a  Mountie jacket before, and it is BEAUTIFUL.  That red serge is as soft as cashmere.  

I can tell you for sure that Robert Kaufman nailed the colour "Canada Red" for their Kona cotton; it's a perfect match to the serge.

  It was difficult to get a good shot of the rows with the gear, but it was fun trying.

 Sincere thanks to my Mountie friend for the loan of this very special uniform. (I may even give it back *-)

 "A Very Musical Ride" will be available EXCLUSIVELY from Mrs Pugsley's Emporium (not from me) as part of the 2018 Row By Row shop-hop experience, beginning June 21st.  There will be a free pattern available, but I sincerely encourage you to purchase the kit so that you have the perfect, vibrant red that you need.

You can contact the shop for more information: Mrs P's Amherst  (mrspsamherst@gmail.com) , telephone (902) 661-4260, or visit them at 50 E. Victoria Street, in downtown Amherst, Nova Scotia.

All That Glitters

It was SO hard to get a picture that did this fabric justice.  It's amazing.It's from Timeless Treasures, and features gold embossed Eiffel Towers on solid black.  Wow!

I decided a zippered pouch was a good use for this gorgeous fabric.  There may be enough to make one more, and I will take them along to the Zonta Bazaar at Fibre Arts Festival.

Ahhh...Paris...

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...:)

Aurifil Stitching Demo

Beth, at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium,has kindly invited me in to display and demo Aurifil thread.  So I stitched up this sweet little blue and white quilt, and will take my machine and quilt this in the shop next Friday, February 5.

I'll show you the effect of using different weights of thread for your quilting.

I will have a variety of Aurifil threads for sale, and will be happy to answer any questions you may have about free-motion quilting.  Mrs Pugsley's Emporium is located at 50 Victoria Street, Amherst, NS, right across the street from the downtown Tim Horton's.  I will be there Friday from 10-3.

 

Felicity Table Runner

It's here! No not spring, but something to remind us it's coming!  This is the new design I have been working on.  It's called Felicity.

The fabrics are a sweet new collection from Lewis & Irene - a British company - called Spring Hare. Though the prints do feature bunnies, the look really is more like 30's fabrics. Such a soft palette is not something I normally work with, but I have enjoyed these...and they go great with my china!

The batting is Tuscany silk, which is perfect for a table set as it isn't thick or lumpy, yet it allows nice definition to the quilting and lets the stitching show.

It's rather simply done, mostly continuous curves with a few feathers thrown in for good measure.

 The runner measures 12-1/2" x 33-1/4", and the pattern includes instruction for matching placemats.

That mischievous middle bunny kept sniffing the flowers.

I had fun trying out different dishes for the photo shoot.  The Peter Rabbit ones were perfect, as is this well-worn cutlery set of a cow, pig and chicken.

It looks equally inviting with my Tranquility china; all the colours are there.  Would you like to come for tea?

I stitched a sample placemat to try out the fit of the templates, as well as to audition the quilting stitches.  This one uses a double layer of wool batting so you can really see the stitches pop.

The exciting part is that Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium in Amherst, Nova Scotia carries the full line of Spring Hare fabrics in her shop, and a kit (including the pattern) to make this set is available exclusively from Mrs. Pugsley's! Details will be posted on her site soon.

If you would just like the pattern by itself, it is available for purchase locally at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium, through my website, or as an instant download here.