A Fox In The Henhouse

That's me!  Mrs. Pugsley (aka Beth) got invited to play her bagpipes on Parliament Hill in Ottawa at the National Day of Honour for our Afghanistan veterans.  That in itself is an honour not to be missed, so I agreed to babysit her quilt shop, Mrs Pugsley's Emporium, while she is away.  Join me on an impromptu magical mystery tour of the shop (without permission *-)
One wall of this incredible historic space is taken up with an imposing and unique piece which came from an old barber shop just down the street.  The mirrors reflect lots of light around this already bright shop.

 This is looking towards the cash at the front of the store.  (Yes I did make that quilt, thank you for asking :)  It looks like stained glass in the window.

 The building is furnished with many antiques including this cart which makes a great spot to display flannels.

 At the back of the store is the display of Moda fabrics, precuts and matching yardage.

There are lots of FQ's bundled into Mrs. P's signature star packs.

Another wall houses Hoffman batiks in every colour under the sun. You can see a couple of Mrs. P's sock monkeys peeking out around the shelves.

This collection by Hoffman is called Maple Lane and looks very Canadian, with maple leaves and wheat motifs. It's beautiful.  Folks have been purchasing it to make Quilts of Valour for our soldiers.

 I can barely take my eyes off this new line from Hoffman called Narumi.

Another really interesting display in the shop is of African hand embroideries, and fabrics to coordinate.  This quilt was made by Beverly Rebelo of Zimbabwe.  You can read more about Beverly's quilts in a previous post.

It's been a very pleasant couple of days for me; I've reconnected with many quilters I haven't seen for ages and Mrs. P left a Beatles CD hidden in plain sight.  A quilt shop with Beatles music - does it get any better than this? :)

Owls On A Date

I spent the afternoon at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium.  It's been awhile since I've been in as life has been incredibly busy of late. I had a ball checking out all the new fabric collections, including this one from Stof called "Owls On A Date."  Having no previous knowledge of owl courting rituals, it was interesting to see their approach captured in fabric.  What a hoot!

I love how Mrs. P's does her Fat Quarters up in star bundles tied with personalized ribbon.  That's such a nice touch.  

Hmmm...if you are a young night owl, I wonder how late you are allowed to stay out?

Modern Ways

For the past 15 or so years, I have participated in the annual Trend Tex Challenge - a fundraiser for The Canadian Quilter's Association (CQA).  I've never been terribly successful with this challenge (although one year I did get Honourable Mention!) mostly because it involves the use of Fat Quarters which I have trouble warming up to.  That was always the biggest part of the challenge for me: having enough fabric to say what I wanted to say.  These are the fabrics for this year's event, generously donated by Trend Tex Fabrics.  They are very well chosen for the theme, "Modern Ways".

Last fall with a plethora of deadlines, commitments, and the mother-of-all-stresses coming at me at the same time the kits were available, I decided to let it go.  (I've decided to let a lot of things go...) Thankfully, there were plenty of other keen souls who took up the challenge.  You can see the entries here.   It was great fun to look at all the quilts, with the added pleasure of seeing so many names I recognize including Dolores, Elaine, Dorinda, Joanne, and Anne, who read this blog. Well done!

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.

Any Time is Santa Time

I love it when quilters share pictures of projects they've made from my patterns.  Here is Paulette, a member of the amazing Guilde Acadienne de Clare, showing off her Santa's Trip Around The World quilt.  I understand that Rudolph's nose actually sparkles!  Paulette has done a great job on the appliqué and I love how her border is quilted - it helps move our eyes around Santa and his reindeer. It's a prime example of my theory on quilting:  quilt what you want people to see.

The pattern for Santa's Trip Around The World is available from my website, or locally at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium.  Thanks so much Paulette for sharing your talents.

Bee Spring

It was a loooooooonnnnnngggg time coming, but spring appears to be slowly seating itself in.  Even though we haven't unwrapped the hives as yet (we had snow this week!!) the bees are out flying around and looking for pollen.

To that end, my beekeeper hubby gave each hive a little head start with 2 pollen patties each.  These pre-made patties are purchased at the bee store wrapped in a special paper through which the bees can chew their way in.  Pollen will signal the queen that spring is here and that it's time to start raising brood again.

 There are little holes left in the paper so the bees can easily get started.  Doesn't that look tasty?

This, and a little sugar syrup which will probably go out next week, should be enough to tide the bees over until buds start popping open and pollen begins appearing in nature.

Self Doubt

"Is this thing lying flat?  I doubt it...my piecing was probably off...or maybe my pressing. Did I have it smoothed out enough when I pinned it?  I don't remember smoothing it before I taped the edges, but I must have, right? Gosh, did I use enough pins?  I used up all the big ones in the container but I bet there were more upstairs -I should have checked. Is there such a thing as too many pins?  I rushed through the basting because Polly was being such a nuisance she had to be put outside and then she was at the window looking pitiful and wanting in and I felt guilty. I should have left her out there, it was a nice day... Did I check the back thoroughly for puckers before I closed all those pins?  I bet I didn't. Sigh...it looks so lumpy on the machine bed.  This is not going to work..."

Over 26 years doing this full time and this is still the conversation in my head each time I start.  Do you do this too?

A Selvedge Share

One of the fun parts about quilting is showing off the finished product afterwards.  I happened to be in Mrs Pugsley's Emporium one day when Patricia Carson brought in her version of my Selvedge Tote.  Even though there are a lot of these around each has its own unique appeal and made personal with the quilter's saved fabric edges from past projects.  Patricia gave her tote a couple of extra touches;  see that orange strip on the left?

It's a piece of Mrs. Pugsley's personalized ribbon.  Clever!

Thank you Patricia for sharing your creative talents.  If you'd like to make your own Selvedge Tote, the pattern is available at Mrs. P's, or from my website.

Happy Easter

Sunrise

"Sunrise" is a word I associate with Easter as often the day is marked with sunrise services.  Here's an article in the Truro Daily News on a different kind of sunrise - The Sunrise Quilt Guild - located not too far from here. Way to go, ladies! 

Taylor And Her Quilt

Here's an update on Taylor's quilt;  I really appreciate that her Mom and great-grandmother allowed me to share this photo.  First off, look at this sweet baby who is only a little over a month old - it's amazing how bright and active she is!

That aside, from my perspective there are a lot of things I like about this picture.  For starters, not only is the quilt being used, it's on the floor.  I love that. Think about it:  when you put a quilt on top of a baby to sleep, do they ever get to see it?  Taylor can play on this and when she rolls over - as she will do soon enough - will be able to look at lots of bright colours, and her name.  The quilt can be machine washed and dried, no problem, so when it needs to go back on her bed it's all good.  I could not be happier it is being used as intended.
Secondly...there's a very content looking cat in the photo :)  Mia is only a couple of months older than Taylor and has been welcomed in to the same family.  It's all good!
Thank you Jacklyn and Nancy for sharing the picture.

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!

Quilt Atlantic

If you are looking for a quilty treat this spring, check out Quilt Atlantic at White Point Beach resort. (Click to enlarge).  If you'd like more information, contact Bev ;  I know she would be delighted to answer your questions.

They Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth

Literally.  And posted them on their blog...along with the pictures I took.  Maybe it was just a dream that I wrote those posts...and that my name is actually "Slightly Off Quilter"???  Granted, many days I am a bit off, but not so much that I don't recognize what I've written and where I've posted it.  For those of you interested, please read about this on The Bitchy Stitcher site (some days I am this way too).  A sincere thank you to Linda for the heads-up about all this deceit.  If you do visit the quilt patterns pro site in question, please know that I am NOT affiliated with this site in any way, shape,or form, I do NOT write for them under another name, and they do NOT have my permission to lift material from my blog.  Be careful what you click on there; the site is peppered with ads which will take you who knows where.  I will also be lodging a complaint with GoDaddy, who apparently hosts the site's domain.

Safe blogging to all.  (Wonder if this post will make it to their site?!)

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!

Taylor's Quilt

The second of the baby quilts has been lovingly delivered and gleefully received.

I used the same selection of pre-cuts of Stof fabrics as in The Quilt Of Learning (Peppered Shadow Brights Maple Roll (2-1/2" strips). To get a random placement of colours in the blocks, I cut the strips into several shorter sections and shuffled them around a bit.The short strips were sewn together in pairs and then cut into 2-1/2" sections. This is much easier and faster than working with individual squares.

These 2-1/2"sections were sewn into 4 patch blocks which finish to 4".

  

The blocks were laid out 9 across and 8 down to give an unfinished measurement of 36-1/2" wide x 24-1/2" long. 

Stof Quilter's Shadow fabrics in yellow and red were used for the trim;  a yellow 6-1/2" x 36-1/2" was sandwiched between 2 red 3-1/2" x 36-1/2" strips.  Another 3-1/2" x 36-1/2"red strip was added across the bottom of the quilt. Letters from the Quilt Of Learning pattern spelled Taylor's name in red and purple.

Machine blanket stitch was worked in black thread around the letters.

The quilting was fun - lines and squiggles and curves.  I can picture giggles when she sees her quilt smiling back at her in the letter O.

 The squares were simply quilted in a continuous curve over the body of the quilt.

Choosing a thread colour made me pause for a moment, but I finally decided on a soft yellow 50 weight cotton (good and sturdy).

On the back I used a super soft flannel with little yellow ducks, and finished it off with a red binding.  I am told that month-old Taylor's favourite colour is red.
(If you are wondering about the strange watermark on the bottom of the photos...well so am I! Photoshop appears to be speaking Greek today!)

Unfortunately I didn't have this finished when Taylor came to visit us last week, but her Papa and GG have it now;  it will remain with them as a special quilt for Taylor for when she visits her great-grandparents.

  

At Nancy's Window

My sister Nancy was visiting when the Hoffman Bali Snowflakes arrived.  Her suggestion was that they would look great in an attic window setting, so that's what I did (thanks, Nan!)  I added a bit of snow on the window (I didn't have to look far for inspiration as there has certainly been a lot of snow on our windows lately!)

The printed snowflakes remind me of the ones Nancy used to crochet and starch and hang in her windows.   If you look closely at the picture below, you can see that I have stitched a hanging cord from the top of the snowflake.

The snow is quilted in swirls with a holographic thread which gives a nice shimmer;  the snowflakes themselves are outlined in silver metallic.

For the photo shoot I placed some cattails in a red can...which turned out to be a bad idea with the cats in the house.  They were obsessed with those cattails!!  It was a constant struggle to keep Polly off the table long enough to get a picture;  I would shoo her off and by the time I had the camera in position, she was back at them.  Maddie, whose feet are permanently glued to the floor, stood on his hind legs beside the table to reach up and swat them.

This was a super easy project and took no time to stitch.  The snowflakes will be in stores soon, and are sold by the yard so you can buy as few or many as your project requires. In Canada, they are distributed by Trend-Tex Fabrics. I am very pleased with the look, especially with the red accent from the little bird, and have named the piece "At Nancy's Window."  The pattern will be coming along shortly.