Throwback Thursday; Crocheting

When I was nine years old, I kept pestering my Aunt Lorena until she taught me to crochet. My first doily looked like a cone, it wouldn't lay flat, but it didn't take long for me to get better at it. My mom's friend, Kit found out that I liked to crochet, so she gathered up a bunch of odds and ends of yarn for me. I loved that bag of yarn, I made all kinds of items with it! This is a picture of a little bag that I made when I was around 10, it's the only relic left of the hundreds of things I made during the years of my childhood. I really appreciate the people who believed in me and encouraged me as I was growing up. You never know what kind of lasting impression you can make!

Day Two at the Quilting Retreat

Today I was working on some blocks from my never ending supply of 2 1/2 inch squares. The pattern is "Growing Up Odd" from the "Wedding Dress Blue" blog. The squares in the pattern were cut two inches, but I used 2 1/2 because I had so many of them. I don't know what size the quilt is going to be, I'll just keep making blocks until I'm tired of them.

Quilting Retreat

We're having a quilting retreat this weekend. Today was dedicated to working on comfort quilts for the guild to give away. I chose a UFO that I made in the 90s and decided to finish it for a comfort quilt. I seem to always bite off more than I can chew when it comes to machine quilting, I sewed for eleven hours and it's still not done. It's hard for me to make a large, flowing all over pattern to fill up the space, it gets compact and dense and seems to take forever to do. The quilt is about a single bed size, maybe one more big day of quilting will finish it.

Throwback Thursday: Sketchbook

In the 90s I did a lot of art experimentation. I tried my hand at painting, drawing, silver jewelry and stained glass. Painting was a disaster for me, I'm too messy, I never even kept any of my oil or acrylic canvases, I didn't like them well enough. Silver jewelry was ok, but after making several pieces, I decided that it wasn't my cup of tea. Drawing cartoons was fun, I even had an editorial cartoon published weekly in our local newspaper for half a year. I always go back to sewing, though, it's in my blood.

Throwback Thursday: Stained Glass

In the early 90s, I took three different classes on stained glass at the Red Deer College in the Summer Series art and craft classes. I bought all the equipment and glass that was needed to do the craft at home. I made several different projects, most were given away for gifts. It was rather heartbreaking to do many hours of work on some things, only to have them crack. One time I made a large picture featuring magnolia flowers and branches, the window behind it was open and the glass crashed to the floor. I couldn't even look at it as I packed it up and put it away. I meant to eventually repair it, but never did. Now my home doesn't have a workshop to do this type of craft. I still have all the equipment, maybe someday I'll get back at it if I rig up an area to do it. I found it kind of limiting because there are only so many windows to display glass and it's not as popular as it once was.

New Potholders for Anna-Marie

I had a request for some potholders recently. My friend, Anna-Marie called and asked if I would make some new ones for her, the ones I made more than 10 years ago were completely worn out. I was happy to honour this request, so I went digging in my stash. Since Anna-Marie loves wildlife, I used moose fabric on the front with a simple block pattern so they would be featured. Bear fabric became the backing. I didn't need to put hanging loops on them because she folds them over her stove handle. Maybe I should make potholders more often and not make her wait 10 or more years for new ones. :)

I delivered the new potholders to Anna-Marie and I took a picture of the old ones. Ha! Ha! Look at these things, they're not even safe anymore, there are holes right through!

I hope the old potholders will find a new home in the garbage can!

"Paisley Garden" by Linda H.

"Paisley Garden" is a quilt that Linda H made and I quilted. Linda says, "Where I got the idea for the quilt was Quilt Sampler Fall/Winter 2006. It was called Indian Summer by Rachel Brown. I used the block and similar colours but I didn't trim the blocks and add borders. I added the blue setting triangles and then added the borders." This project took a long time to complete, Linda made the top ages ago, then I offered to quilt it for her. It took three quilting retreats and several hours at home for me to do the quilting. (I am rather slow) Then the quilt sat around for a few years before Linda put the binding and label on it. It's finally finished- yay! Linda will take another picture of it in the spring when she can put the backdrop frame outside to hold it up. The quilt is so huge, the frame couldn't be raised up high enough in the house to show it.

"Simply Pretty" by Linda H.

Linda H just finished this quilt she named "Simply Pretty". She has been cranking out one beautiful quilt after another, I can't keep up with her! (for those who are new to this blog, Linda H is my favourite sister) Linda got the pattern for this quilt from Quilters Newsletter's "Best Fat Quarter Quilts" 2013. It was designed by Jocelyn Ueng of It's Sew Emma, Austin, Texas. In the magazine, the quilt was named "Trifles".