A Fussy Beauty

I love seeing email with a paperclip icon arrive from Joanne Colleaux of Armstrong, B.C., as she always sends something special.  This time is no exception.

Awhile back, Joanne saw this fussy cut version of Maritime Beauty I had made from Hoffman batik snowflakes.

My original piece looked like this one below: fussy cutting the snowflakes certainly brought it to life!

Joanne decided to do the same, but with my Beauty of Christmas pattern. This pattern was written having the curved seams appliqued instead of pieced.

 Here's how Joanne's turned out - a far cry from the original!

 I *love* the warm coffee/mocha colours of the fabrics she has chosen, and the subtle arrangement of lights and darks, both in the spikes and the background wedges under the spikes. The arcs were foundation-pieced by machine, but the rest of the sewing was done by hand, Joanne's preferred method to ensure perfect placement of the motifs. ("fussy" indeed *-)

 Joanne writes, "I used gold thread for quilting within the batik motifs, which brightened them up considerably; just following the shapes seemed to be the only reasonable way for me to quilt within them...I am definitely pleased with the outcome"

 What a clever (and brave) way she has added her label, penned directly on the quilt back.

Thanks so much for sharing these pictures, Joanne - fabulous work as always.  You can see more of Joanne's magic at these links:
Farrago: http://sewkaren-lycreated.blogspot.ca/2011/08/pacific-west-quilt-show.html
Ostentation: http://sewkaren-lycreated.blogspot.ca/2015/05/joannes-ostentation.html

Snow Beauty

Before presenting a workshop, I always sew a new version of the project to have it fresh in my mind.  When preparing for the recent class on Maritime Beauty, I decided to give my project a bit more zing. Here's the result, and even though I've named it "Snow Beauty", it really is :)

I used beautiful Hoffman batiks, printed with snowflakes, in black and greys.

 The large snowflakes were fussy cut for the centre, and for the semi-circles on each end.

There was enough solid black around the snowflakes that I could cut plain background pieces to square out the centre sections.

I chose a medium grey Aurifil thread (#2610) for piecing.  When it came time to quilt, Aurifil #4060, which is a very subtle white to medium-dark grey variegated, was a perfect choice to blend with the batiks.

My quilting was free-form ice shards.  The spikes of the New York Beauty block make a perfect halo around the batik snowflakes.

I am really, really pleased with how this turned out.  

The pattern for original Maritime Beauty may be downloaded here.

Funny How It all Works Sometimes!

An email this week really made me smile...it was from Marjorie in Sarnia, Ontario who sent along two pictures of Maritime Beauties she had made.  She made this beauty from her batik stash, but it wasn't just the quilt that made me smile, it was her story.

About five years ago, Marjorie et al were returning from a camping trip to Newfoundland, and on the ferry struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger who was also a quilter. That quilter turned out to be someone I knew, BevCrouse.  When Marjorie mentioned they were headed to a campground near Amherst and that she was looking for something to quilt that would be a reminder of the trip, Bev directed them to Dayle’s department store to buy one of my patterns. She chose Maritime Beauty.  It took her a bit of time to finish her quilt, but when she did, she showed her friend in Calgary who immediately asked for one. Marjorie dipped in to her batik stash again and came up with this one for Donna, similar but not identical.  

Donna's version:

Marjorie's projects are beautiful and as she says, "a delight to make!"   Thanks so much, Marjorie, for sharing the pictures of your work as well as the story behind your project.  (and thanks, Bev,for recommending my pattern!). The pattern is available for purchase on my website  or as an instant download through Craftsy
You never know when a chance meeting will connect you to a quilter...we're everywhere! :)

Joanne's Oriental Beauty

Get ready to be wowed!  This Oriental Beauty was stitched by Joanne Colleaux of Armstrong, British Columbia.

Joanne brought her wonderful colour sense and exquisite stitching ability to this piece.

Front and back, it's stunning.  Choosing a plain backing fabric has allowed the free motion quilting to really show.

Awhile back, Joanne stitched a version of Farrago which she named "Underwater Blossoms".

 It was a winner at the Pacific Northwest Show, in Tacoma, WA

Joanne tells me she has my Quilting Beauties book on order and it is exciting to think how she will translate some of those designs. Thank you, Joanne.  

Send in the Clones

I could use a few extra hands!  I am working like crazy to finish up a few new pieces to hang in my World of Beauty exhibit October 14-18 at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium.  I have four more teeny, tiny blocks to piece before this miniature can be assembled:

I scrolled back through my blog posts and see I started these in June...when I thought I had all kinds of time to finish.  The blocks are very small (these fan sections are 2" x 3") and pieced in silk.  It isn't patchwork which can be hurried as the silk is very unforgiving.  There is no ripping out as it leaves holes so it's important to work carefully.

Because I've had a successful morning it feels my patience needs to be rewarded. I am off to Mrs. Pugsley's to check out an Oriental collection I've had my eye on. :)

Bellissima!

Yesterday I got new fabrics from Hoffman.  Bellissima!

You can see the different colourways here; I chose silver, orchid, jade and pewter with an antique beige/gold from their Blenders line to match one of the lines in the stripe.  The collection includes a large floral, a swirl, a dot, a print and a stripe - a winning combination of patterns that always makes a stunning quilt.  Since my Italian is not up to speed,I Googled "bellissima" to learn it is the feminine form of "bellissimo" which makes sense when you see this collection.  Belissima indeed!

An Embroidered Beauty

Diane Zdep from Alberta has been busily quilting up some beauties, including this one. Gorgeous!

Diane writes:  "I love this pattern I bought from you. This is my walk on the wild side with the centre machine embroidered using fall colors. It sure was a lot of fun to do. I love putting my own spin on things." The pattern for Oriental Beauty is designed with an easy method of appliquing the curves but Diane, who has no issue with curved seams, stitched hers the regular way.

Thanks so much for sending the photo Diane.  I know you are stitching away on a few more surprises, and I hope we get to see those soon!
You can find pattern # 209 for Oriental Beauty on my website, or ask for it at your local quilt shop.

Why Not Y?

Some folks shy away from tackling Y (or inset) seams but in truth they are no more difficult than sewing a mitred corner.  In the picture below you can see the Y shape formed at the intersection of the three seams. 

Whether your angle is 45°, 60° or even 120°, the method for stitching the Y seam is the same.

At the intersection of the three seams, the stitching stops the distance of your seam allowance from the end, in this case 1/4". You can see X's marked 1/4" from the edge of each section to be joined. I don't usually mark the X's but just eyeball the distance, however if you are new to doing this a mark helps.

You sew the first piece to the correct side up to the marked X.

At the X, lock your stitches and clip your threads.

The seam allowance at the end is left free.

Repeat to sew the second piece in place, again stopping at the centre X.

Place the side pieces (which will join to form the tail of the Y) right sides together and stitch from the X. Press the centre seam open, and the side seams down over that centre seam.

Pressing the centre seam open reduces the bulk of the seam allowance at the intersection allowing your work to lay perfectly flat.

Voila!  A perfect Y seam.

Blue Ocean, Blue Sky

Friday while I was at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium, a new shipment of fabric arrived.  There it was - right on top - the blue I had envisioned for my latest project.  It's Michael Miller's Fairy Frost by Mark Hordyszynski in a colourway named Ocean.  I was so excited to find it!

However, this very intense blue with it's black undertones is not destined for use in a marine themed quilt, but rather will be night sky among my stars.  Intriguing to think about how deep ocean and far away sky are imagined to be the same shade.

My sewing has been progressing at a very slow pace this summer...even though summer itself is moving along at breakneck speed.  I am still poking away at the little silk New York Beauty blocks. Despite the fact the blocks are only about 2" wide where they narrow, they take much longer to piece than a "normal" sized block...especially worked in silk.  This one is just for me though, so no deadline other than I would love to have it finished in time for my show at Fibre Arts Festival.

I also succumbed and bought some of the Hoffman "Narumi" which I have been ogling at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium.  

How best to use the border print puzzled me for a bit but I like how it is working up into the spaces between the gold spikes.  There are three different gold prints being used for those.

The colour for the centres is still undecided.  My plan is to piece the blocks but not join them, then take them to the quilt shop to audition different fabrics for that centre spot.  Sounds like fun, wouldn't you say? :)

No Longer Afraid Of The Dark

Making bias binding from dark fabrics has always been a tricky operation. The Clover white marker leaves a clear visible line on dark fabrics but disappears when the heat of the iron touches it. On a regular ironing board, it's difficult to keep the marks intact.

My solution is to use a sleeve board to do the pressing.

The tube of fabric slips over the end of the sleeve board.

Using just the tip of the hot iron, I am able to carefully press the seam open without removing the marks for cutting. In a pinch, this method will also work if you mistakenly draw your lines with a FriXXion marker (ask me how I know...).

Because so many of my quilts have curved outside edges, I make a lot of bias binding and find this method works great every time.

Drop-In Sewing Day

I've drawn up another New York Beauty design to use with these fabulous batiks.  I *love* the colours and am itching to get stitching.  I'm not quite ready to do so as yet though;  I need to walk around the fabrics and the design for a day or two to make sure everything is where I want it to be.

This coming Wednesday - April 9th - my machine and I are heading to Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium for a drop-in sewing day.  It runs during store hours from 10-4 and I plan to be there the whole day.  There are more details here from Mrs. P. herself.  If you are in the area please join us for a fun day of sewing, or even just pop in to say hi.  I'll be working on my NY Beauty blocks!

What a Week!

My  inner duck has been drifting quietly on the surface...but my feet have been paddling like crazy underneath.  We had another blizzard, which brought hurricane force winds (recorded at over 200 kms/hour in Cape Breton!) and more than 40 cm of snow.  To add to the excitement, in the middle of this we needed to make a run to the airport, and hosted house guests. Fortunately, we had enough shovels to go around!

A big batch of beautiful batiks arrived.

The motifs they are sporting are perfect for the occasion.  I hope I can get them sewn before the snow leaves to get some nice outside shots.  Isn't this gorgeous?

But the BIG news is that my editor at AQS sent a photo of the new book cover which I have her permission to share!  Scroll down to see...

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It's beyond exciting.  There are still a few months between now and actually holding this new baby in my hands but it's been a huge feeling of satisfaction to see things this far along.

I am off to sew.  The second of my baby quilts stalled out during all the hoopla of the week but it will be finished soon to show you.