Welcome Blogathoners!

If you are visiting this week as part of Blogathon Canada, welcome aboard!  I am pleased to be included on the list for my province as a Nova Scotia Blogger (Bluenose Blogger sounds like a good title, actually!) Please have a look around;  if you type "tutorial" in the search this blog field on the left, you will bring up a few free projects from the past. My patterns may be purchased from my website. I hope you enjoy the posts, and will make this a regular stop on your daily blog reading.
The host for Nova Scotia is Linda, who blogs here;  visit her site to see the complete list of N.S. bloggers and enter to w in some great give-aways!

Buried

I feel like I've been spinning my wheels for the past month or so, getting caught up from Fibre Arts Festival and with yesterday's snow now my wheels are literally spinning!  Our first real snowfall of the season...and it's a pretty one!

Inside, I've been working away on the colourful fabrics from Mrs. P's that I showed you in this post.  I am about half way through the quilting, and have a few more fiddly details to work out on the pièce de résistance (the accompanying canopy) and then it's on to writing the directions.  Barring interruptions, that's a good week's worth of work before it's ready to post.

 There are also a few chores which need doing...like putting the patio furniture away :)

ABC&123

Jeanne Kaye Speight has done it again!  She has finished another top, this one my Quilt Of Learning pattern.

Jeanne Kaye writes, "I loved making this pattern! It reminded me of all the wonderful hours I spent watching Sesame Street with my two little boys...Thank you for another terrific pattern. I used a mini jelly roll, a pack of 6 fat quarters, and 3 yards of aqua fabric from the same line."  Jeanne Kaye's quilt is now waiting for her favourite longarmer to work her magic.  I can't wait to see how she quilts it.

Thank you Jeanne Kaye;  if you scroll back a few posts you will be able to see several more of Jeanne Kaye's projects. No wonder Linda from Stitch Lines refers to you as the Energizer Bunny!

Meet A Quilt Dude

As I've said many times before, I meet a lot of interesting people on my quilt journey and today I will introduce you to one who really stands out: Jose Hermosillo from San Diego.  First let me clarify the word "meet" because it's used in a virtual not a real sense.  I encountered Jose when he posted this picture of his Simply Santa table runner on Craftsy.  His moniker there is Quilt Dude.

What really caught my attention was his fabulous attitude, and sense of humour.  His response to the standard Craftsy question of "What are you most proud of about this project?"  was " It looks just like the picture! LOL".  This is someone having fun with quilting.  I left a comment, he responded, and eventually we had a nice little chit chat.  He generously shared more pictures of his work and a little about himself which I found very interesting, so I asked his permission to share it here with you.

"I live in San Diego, and started quilting in the mid 90's for a bit, really, on a whim. My first quilt, needless to say, was a disaster, but I was proud of it. More than the quilt itself, though, I liked the process of creating, so I decided to buy a book [my quilting bible is what I call it and still have it and refer to it regularly!]... I wanted to quilt the right way, and started making quilts - mostly for my then infant nephews and nieces. All those quilts are long gone, too. After a few years, I stopped quilting, and in 2010 one day I just decided Hey, I liked quilting, let me start doing that again....I love quilting, it relaxes me, I get lost in it for hours, sometime without meaning to."  

Much of the work from this quilt dude's hands is given as gifts.  Last Christmas he made 25 of these small Christmas trees to share (you can see on the blue one how they light up!).

This is a family tree quilt made for Christmas 2011 for his parents showing brothers, sisters, and cousins.

One of his first quilts, held by its happy owner, remains one of Jose's all time favourites.

 " I don't know what my style of quilting is, I don't want to say "modern", but I don't really like those "grandma" quilts, either. I do take inspiration from them, however. I love color, I like to play with composition [I mean, I don't stick to making symmetrical, evenly spaced and centered blocks on quilts, they can be boring to me], there is no rule, I do what I want! LOL. I also try to learn a new technique with every quilt. I'm not a big fan of curves, so I just say, I like geometrical quilts... 

This quilt is an homage to his favourite artist, Prince. It's a whole cloth on the front, with lyrics from his songs as the quilting. The back is pieced scraps of purple and white.

Below is Jose's exquisite interpretation of a Piet Mondriaan painting. 

This gorgeous quilt is pieced from batiks, with colourful squares surrounding Hoffman Bali tiles. Wow!

"As most of us do, I see through quilter's eyes, always looking at color combinations, patterns, and inspiration to possibly be put down into a quilt top. Again, as most of us do, I'm sure, I always have two, three, four projects in mind that I want to do while I currently work on finishing the two, three projects on my table and in my sewing machine."

Thank you Jose for sharing your talents in this virtual quilt show;  I for one have enjoyed it very much.  You are one creative quilt dude!   

Craftsy Design Award Winners

My sincerest thanks to all who voted for my quilt Rhythmic in the recent Craftsy Design Awards.

You can check out the winners here!

The Quiltmare was a Nightmare

We've hit a few snags in our latest quilt - including running short of fabric twice - so we have called a halt to production as we reassess and see where it is headed.  Polly is tired of jumping through hoops to make it come together.

This is not unusual in the development of a new pattern because it requires lots of tweaking to make things gel, and in the simplest way possible.  The latter is key to a successful design.  As Einstein said, "make things as simple as possible, but no simpler". We are working towards that end. 

Christmas Tea

La Guilde Acadienne de Clare is busily preparing goodies for their Christmas Tea and they invite you to join them on November 23, from 11 - 3 pm.  You can do some Christmas shopping while enjoying your treats, and the hospitality is second to none!

A Recurring Quiltmare

I've had a quilt stuck in my head for over a year.  I have sewn it virtually in many fabrics and colour combinations, tweaking the design each time.  When I saw this striped fabric at Mrs. Pugsley's, I knew it was time to make it for real.

The coordinates are solids and subtle dots;  the red and white polka dot will be backing. It makes me think of Minnie Mouse, but the design has no mice. It will include all kinds of geometric shapes: circles, squares, diamonds, triangles...and stripes. This will be a fun project to sew and I am excited to start cutting.

No Trick - All Treat!

You are so awesome!  Welcome to all the new readers of this blog, and thank you to the regulars for your continued support.

I am excited to say that Rhythmic has been chosen as one of 4 finalists from THOUSANDS of nominations in the Craftsy Pattern Designer Awards. (There were 9, 774 patterns in the running!) Thank you SO MUCH for voting for my pattern. We are now down to the final round and I am asking for your support one last time.  Kindly follow this link  and click the radio button next to Rhythmic.  If you would like a chance to win a free class from Craftsy, then add your email address (not mandatory)  Then click Submit.  That’s it! 

My sincerest thanks…and good luck in the draw for the class!

~Karen    

Santa's Workshop

There is an energetic elf taking over production at the North Pole and her name is Jeanne Kaye.  She's on a roll!

I'll share what Jeanne Kaye wrote because it's so much fun: "Here I am in Fredericton sewing Santa's belt in vast quantities, and it seems I have a shortage of plain red fabric!  Not wanting to stop the production, I searched my stash and found a red with decorative touches, and then I found piece called "Santa's Beard" which looks a lot like fluffy fur. So I pressed on, and made this one. I've decided that this must be Santa's "dress" costume, for all the holiday parties that he probably attends after his busy night on the 24th. :-) Love the pattern; can't get stopped!"
I am familiar with the "Santa's Beard" fabric she mentions, as Mrs, P. carries it in her shop.
Thank you so much Jeanne Kaye for sharing your projects - keep them coming!  The pattern can be downloaded here if you'd like to make your own.

From Quilt Market

I was delighted to receive this photo from fellow fabric enthusiast and Amherstonian James Austin..He is shown here standing next to my Log Canada which is part of the Ruby Jubilee Red & White Exhibit in Houston, Texas.

Thanks, James.  This is way better than a postcard!

Simply Santa is Simply Finished!

Jeanne Kaye Speight from Fredericton downloaded the Simply Santa pattern about 45 minutes ago...and here's her finished runner!

How many do you think she will get made by Christmas? :) Thanks Jeanne Kaye!  You can download the pattern for Simply Santa here.

Ruby Jubilee: 40 years of Red & White Quilts

I am blown away by this stunning display of red and white quilts at Houston Quilt Market in celebration of the IQF Ruby Jubilee.  It's amazing to know that my Log Canada is one of the quilts hanging here.  If you happen to be at Quilt Festival, I'd love a close up picture showing my quilt; you can send it to me here

When this show ends, the quilts will travel for showings across the U.S.A., and return home in October 2015.  You can watch a slideshow of more pictures from this exhibit on the Quilt Show blog.

Simply Santa

It's almost November, so like you I am thinking ahead to Christmas and looking for ideas for quickly stitched gifts.  I had fun coming up with this really, really simple table runner.  It doesn't take much fabric and the piecing is minimal.  The bold, graphic design lends a touch of modern to a traditional motif.

Because of the clever construction  method used (similar to a roll-up pillow case) it is completely machine sewn - no binding, no raw edges - everything is enclosed, turned inside out and you're done!

It was so quick to stitch that yesterday afternoon I had time to work out the measurements, write the instructions and make two runners.  Once you get the hang of it, each should take no more than an hour (the second one took 30 minutes, start to finish).

This "Santastic" pattern is available as an instant download. Have fun!

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks

What an honour to have one of my original blocks included in an EQ program!  I have been a dedicated user of Electric Quilt since it first came out...and have upgraded to the newest version as each was released (we are now up to EQ7).  I would never have imagined I would be part of this amazing software. I do all of my designing on EQ, including drawing piecing diagrams and templates....and it's so neat to hover my mouse over "Hidden Star" and see my name appear!

You can find all the "Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from Today's Top Designers" here.

Craftsy Pattern Design Awards

An incredible number of you have downloaded my Rhythmic pattern through Craftsy (thank you!); it stayed in the number one spot for an extended period and it is still going strong. 

I appreciate your support a great deal and ask that you will support me now in a way that could also benefit you - in the form of a FREE Craftsy class of your choice!

You may nominate up to 3 patterns in each category (Rhythmic is in the QUILTING group), but you can only enter each pattern one time. (i.e., don't go back the next day to reenter!)

Winning designers for each category will receive a Craftsy Pattern Design Awards Winner badge to proudly wear on their blog. For filling out the nomination form, your email address will be entered for a chance to win a FREE Craftsy class. To nominate Rhythmic, copy this line below:

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/quilting/home-decor/rhythmic/81303

and paste it into the field where it asks the URL on this page.  All that's required to enter is an email address.  

Thanks, and good luck in the draw for the class!

The Agony of De FEET

A big thank you to all who attended my quilt exhibit at the N.S. Fibre Arts Festival. It was great to see so many out, and I truly appreciate all the kind comments.  My head didn't grow any bigger, but I think my feet swelled to twice their size;  Beth warned me the concrete floor would be a killer and she was so right!!

New York Beauty Exhibit

If you are around Amherst, N.S. this week, please stop in and say hello.  I will be at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium each day from 1-4 (the store hours are longer, these are the times I will be present.)

Festival Count-Down Is On!

Yikes!  Tomorrow is the start of the final week to prepare for our big festival.  I am not even close to being ready.  Fall is a super busy time in the quilt world as it is: guilds are back in session, and the pattern orders flood in as shops organize winter classes. Fabric companies are scrambling to get quilts made with their new fabric lines for Quilt Market later this month.  I confess every year I shake my head and wonder whose idea it was to hold this festival in the week following Thanksgiving; certainly it wasn't a quilter (or at least not this quilter!) I had hoped to have 2 additional pieces finished for my "World of Beauty" display and both are close but not quite there.  The miniature silk piece requires binding so it may actually make the show.  Yesterday I got the Oriental piece basted and the stitch-in-the-ditch started. As you can see below, it's a very colourful piece.

This may be as far as I get as the next few days will be spent figuring out how to hang the show.  I am relying on Beth at Mrs. Pugsley's for direction as display is just not my strong suit.  Of course there is also a whack of baking to be done for the holiday, and a son collected and delivered back to university.  I am thinking this quilt may be displayed "in progress" with the quilting half-done. Surely quilters everywhere are familiar with not-quite-finishing all they start...

Mayflowers at IWK

IWK QUILT FAIR AND SALE

PARKER RECEPTION ROOM

IWK HEALTH CENTRE

UNIVERSITY AVENUE, HALIFAX, NS

ADMISSION: $3.00

THURSDAY, OCT 2 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

FRIDAY, OCT 3 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

SATURDAY, OCT 4 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

FEATURING:

LARGE DISPLAY OF QUILTS – FOR SHOW AND SALE

RAFFLE QUILT – “BRAMBLEBERRY”

CRAFT TABLE

SILENT AUCTION OF QUILTED ITEMS

–SPONSORED BY SEW WITH VISION, IT'S SEW TIME,

AVONPORT DISCOUNT FABRICS, ATLANTIC FABRICS & CRAFTS

ALL PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO

THE IWK AUXILIARY

A JOINT PROJECT OF THE MAYFLOWER QUILTERS' GUILD OF NOVA SCOTIA,

MAYFLOWER CHAPTER MEMBERS AND THE IWK HEALTH CENTRE AUXILIARY