Nesting Santas

Every year I try to come up with a new and fun project for Christmas.  Nothing too heavy, or involved - just cute, fun, and happy.  It's no secret I have a "thing" for the jolly fellow in the big red suit, and it seems every year my Christmas offering involves him, like these Santa Sacks...

...or this Santa runner:

...and these personalized Santa ornaments...etc.  You get the picture :)  So this year I decided that my Christmas project would not involve Santa; I was going to make something with trees, and lots of greenery.

I headed down to Mrs Pugsley's Emporium and chose this elegant, rich green print.  Perfect!  I set about designing in my new EQ8 program, excited with the possibility of what I would create.

I ended up with these!!!  Nesting Santas! They remind me of the Russian Matryoska dolls that are so fun to play with.  Since these are just cloth - and unbreakable - I think they'd be great for  little hands.

The Santas are 3 sizes:  12", 8", and 6", and I also made a runner using the 12" foundation. (Note the boots: my favourite holiday salt & pepper shakers!)

The fabric I used is a gorgeous red and gold from Hoffman called Berries and Blooms.  The background green is from the Hoffman "Merry Birds" collection.

I quilted the runner using Aurifil gold metallic in the background, and 50 weight white cotton for the beard. It's got lots of sparkle.

The eyes are a simple straight stitch made with Aurifil 12 weight thread.

I took the Santas outside and posed them in the holly bushes. We had had snow that morning, but by the time I got outside, it was long gone.

This next shot struck me as funny;  I was trying to get a group photo, but it ended up looking like Santa is hanging upside down.  I expect this is the way he looks coming down the chimney.

The funniest picture is this one, below.  My elder son mischievously set one Santa on top of the salt and pepper shakers, to make it look like he is wearing boots.  I am not sure why this is so funny, but...it is.

I hope you enjoy this latest addition to my Santa obsession.  (Even though I didn't get a tree, I did get a TRI-O so that counts, right? :)My sincere thanks goes out to pattern editor Cheryl Coville.
The "Nesting Santas" pattern is available as an instant download, or as a printed version from my website.  It includes the pattern for the 15" x 29" runner/wallhanging.

Moving Forward

While most folks slow down for the summer, around here things get ramped up in the planning department. New ideas are set in place, both for designs and business goals.  The fall is like starting a new semester in quilting and like every student, I've been buying school supplies. I've added a wide format scanner, with an 11 x 17 bed, something I have wanted for a long time.  It makes it so easy when larger pattern pieces don't need to be cut apart.  It joins service with my wide format printer (both taking up a lot of room, so they need to work hard to justify their presence!)

I've placed a couple of projects for publication (Quilter's Connection, and The American Quilter) and will share details on those soon. Fall workshops are set-up, new partnerships have been forged, and I've even decided to vend at a show or two.  Sales of both books - Quilting Beauties and Canadian Heritage Quilting - have been very steady and I thank you for that. More news in the next post!

Hopping Along With The Spring Hare

We are hopping right along with the runner in the Spring Hare collection.  The piecing is complete and I had fun choosing threads for the quilting.  I am by no means a thread snob - I love it all, and have a huge variety of weights, colours and brands on hand.  The bobbin thread is a 100 weight (i.e. very fine) Wonderfil Invisifil.  For the quilting, I chose 5 different colours:  a pink/cream variegated by Sulky, a solid yellow Konfetti by Wonderfil, a pale blue cotton Gutermann, a silver/white Aurifil variegated, and a green variegated Gutermann which I've had since Moses was a baby. That Gutermann was the first time I had seen variegated sewing thread in a store, and in my excitement, I bought all of it, in all the colourways - the entire thread display!  It was my first experience hoarding thread...(sadly not my last...:))  I have two spools of the green left, and one of a Christmas red/white/green.  It was a well-loved investment!

I picked up this pink Sulky at The Quilt Gallery in O'Leary last summer and have been itching to use it.  It has the perfect blend of shades from dark pink to cream to work with the blades in the fan blocks.

It was a tad heavier than the rest - a 30 weight - but I liked the effect.  It was like embroidering small scrolls.

Because of all the variation in thread thickness between my top and bobbin threads, it was necessary to adjust the top tension with each thread so that my stitches were perfect.  I am always amazed at how reluctant students are to do this!  For the 30 weight pink thread, I had to call on the bobbin case's secret weapon - I call it a stitch finger, I have no clue what it's really named.  Not all machines have one, but if they do, it's a wonderful help to proper tensioning.  You can see I've simply run my bobbin thread through the tiny hole at the top of the finger before inserting the bobbin back in the case.  It tightens up the bottom thread just a tiny bit - way easier than moving the screw.  

The quilting is almost finished up, so I will show you the rest soon.

Quilting Workshop

If you are looking to tune up your machine quilting skills before fall guild meetings resume, come join me in class to learn about free motion quilting.

Free Motion Quilting For The Absolutely Terrified

If you long to quilt your own quilt tops but are lacking in confidence or unsure how to get started in free motion quilting on your home sewing machine, this class is for you.

Learn how to:

• · lower your feed dogs without raising your blood pressure

• · adjust your top, bottom and shoulder tension simultaneously

• · meander without losing your way

• · Echo, Echo, Echo, Echo, Echo…

The class  will cover the basics of free motion machine quilting including needle and thread selection, basting, batting, and machine tension. Sample squares will be stitched with various techniques including stippling, following a marked line, echo quilting, and freehand background fillers. We will then apply what we have learned to mark, baste, and free motion quilt the miniature whole cloth pictured in green above (fabric supplied in kit). Many quilts will be shown for inspiration, including the red bag at the top of the post.  It's the same motif we are quilting for our sampler, just made a little larger and stitched into a bag.

There is no pre-requisite for this beginner free-motion class, however you need to be comfortable with your sewing machine; this is beginner free-motion, not beginner quilting.

The class will be held Saturday September 13 from  9:00 am - 3:00 pm  at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium, 50 Victoria Street, Amherst, Nova Scotia.  The cost of the class is $70 which includes all handouts, pattern, fabric, and hanger for your sampler. Please email me to register. At that time a list of what to bring to class will be provided.  It will be a very small class so get your name in quickly if you are interested.  Samples may be seen in person at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium.

A Scattered Week

The wind is blowing a gale outside and with two cats in the house, I knew that even before I opened my eyelids this morning.  Gram always said the cats go crazy when there is wind and Polly is a wild woman today... she`s been into everything. 

Perhaps the wind scattered my week as well as it's certainly been off in many directions.  I had a great time at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium on Wednesday;  it was her first drop-in sewing day and it was a roaring success. I expect that will become a regular event as everyone had a very fun time.  (Linda S., thank you for the reminder to take my camera;  I did...but do you think I remembered to take any pictures?!) Yesterday I spent way too much time tracking down the perfect box in which to ship quilts and patterns...but I found it!  I am beyond delighted to say that my Quilt Of Learning and Rhythmic are both headed to Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburgh.  Both were made using Stof fabrics and they will be displayed in the Stof booth at Market. These are the two quilts:

It`s no small honour to have my quilts go and I am really pleased that there was opportunity to show both of them first here in Amherst, Nova Scotia.  They've been on display for the past month at Mrs. Pugsley`s Emporium.

I am home today waiting for UPS to come pick up the box.

While I wait, I will stitch on the latest design.  This will be the last I can show of it for awhile as I am pleased to say it will appear in the fall issue of Quilter`s Connection magazine, Canada`s premier quilting publication.

Look at Polly:  ears up, eyes intently focused, killer instinct engaged.. Be careful Maddie, I think she`s ready for another round!

Sweet and Simple

The first baby quilt is all done and will be delivered this afternoon.  I used the letters from the Quilt Of Learning pattern to spell out the recipient's name. The rest is simply plain squares of pastel pink, blue and white. When a name is so unique, I always think a personalized gift is extra special.

As I showed in the last post, I put a little scroll inside each heart - some curled to the left and some to the right.

I also stitched scrolls running up the length of the quilt in the strips framing the letters.

The letters themselves were free-motion outlined;  the background was stippled to make the letters stand out.

On the back is a soft blue and white check flannel.

Everything was from stash other than the pink for the binding which came from Mrs. Pugsley's. Emporium.  I chose pink as the quilt is for a little girl.

Now on to the next one, which will be made using brights.  It will have a very different "personality."

Out Of The Nest

Out of the ballpark, really...

These beautifully executed feathers were stitched by Joan of ouvrages d'une acadienne.  I hope you leave a round of applause on Joan's blog.  Congrats, Joan;  we knew you had it in you :)

Feather Quilting Workshop

The 6th annual Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival is now a fond memory.  Class participants in my Beginner Free Motion Feathers class came from such places as Antigonish, Northport, Saulnierville, Moncton, Sackville,Springhill, Truro, Parrsboro, PEI...and even two from Amherst!  Our two Island gals especially had a lot of free motion experience under their belts and they really flew with the feathers (ahem...)... but for everyone, there was marked improvement in the stitching of the feather plumes between the start and end of the day. Folks went home pleased with their renewed  quilting confidence.

Sitting and stitching hours on end as you try to do your best work makes for an intense day, but the smiles stayed intact to the end. It's a privilege to spend time with such enthusiastic quilters dedicated to learning and improving their skills.

 Leave it to Joan to do something this beautiful on her feathered wreath:

Thanks to all for a great workshop.  It's both humbling and gratifying to have students return year after year and I appreciate your support immensely.   l look forward to meeting up with all my quilting friends for next year's festival - mark your calendars!