Category Archives: Quilting

Happy Birthday Gavin

Cards, Quilting

April 4, 2022

~ 72″ x 72~

This was a Guild project from 2021. I’ve never made a log cabin before and I was glad to give it a try. Of the eight extra blocks surrounding the centre seven were patterns given to us and the eighth one we were to choose our own. I picked the card trick block; Stacia had made a quilt using the card trick block a long time ago at one of our first sewing sessions and I really liked it.

Quilting was a challenge because I was limited to something I could do with my walking foot. I used my go-to star pattern in the blocks.

I was a bit worried that for three of the blocks the star pattern might look odd because the block really didn’t suit the quilting pattern. A conference with Stacia and Deloise set me straight and when it was done I made the right decision; those three blocks don’t look at all strange.

For a lot of the quilting I used the mattress stitch that Deloise introduced me to and I’ve used often. I wanted something with curves for the wide outer border so I dug out one of my quilting rulers and marked the curves. I was pleased that by using my appliqué foot I was able to sew through the layers (and follow the curves) without much trouble.

This was a large quilt so it took some energy to move it around through all the quilting. I thought it was 30 blocks by 36 blocks but it turned out I had miscounted and was dealing with 36 blocks by 36 blocks so a lot of quilting.

It wasn’t until I had the last few stitches in the binding that I realized I hadn’t put a label on the quilt so I added one by hand.

Gavin’s card is Adventure Abounds from The Splendid Sampler 2 series

Spring/Summer Tablecloth

Quilting
Tablecloth – 42″ x 60″

Kathryn picked the fabric and it is no surprise that when she saw these pigs she couldn’t find anything else she liked better. She picked the orange/yellow fabric because it reminded her of a plastic tablecloth you might spread over your picnic table.

I had trouble getting the Fall/Winter tablecloth sandwiched and quilted so that it ended up to be the right size. I changed my sandwiching technique on this one and ended up with extra length. I gave Kathryn her choice of placemats or a runner and she picked a runner; she said she can put it on the table when the tablecloth is in the laundry.

The quilting was done with a mattress stitch following the lines on the summer-side of the cloth. I used a two-colour binding for the tablecloth but a regular binding for the runner.

I hope it will soon be Spring in Saskatoon but I know that as soon as Kathryn sees those pigs they will be on her table.

Runner – 42″ x 19″

Calendar Block – April

Calendar Blocks, Cards, Quilting
14″ x 14″

Do April showers bring May flowers? I guess Kathryn have to tell us. She’ll need to be careful though because if she positions that umbrella the wrong way it will be raining sideways and, trust me, you don’t want that!

I knew when I saw the pattern that I wanted to use florals for the umbrella. I remembered that when I was sorting my pre-cuts I had some small floral squares that I had purchased from the estate of a Guild member. I thought they were 2.5″ squares and what I needed were 2″ squares but I was willing to cut them down. When I pulled them out there were three packages of 2″ squares. I have no idea why I bought so many but I was glad to not have to do any cutting. The remainder of the package I used, as well as the other two packages, have been added to my 2″ scrap bin.

I used a corner to corner line on the umbrella but I wanted something different for the background. I used straight lines that, in my mind, depict rain coming down.

I pieced the backing using more of that veggie fabric but I forgot to take a photo of it.

Crocuses

Quilting
~ 12″ x 13″

This pattern came from a magazine I found at Stacia’s. Although she said she didn’t want it back, she said that this was the one pattern in the magazine that she really liked.

I was supposed to take a paperless paper piecing class through the Guild but the first date for the class had to be cancelled due to Covid and I still wasn’t going out much when they rescheduled it so I missed it again. I had a quick tutorial from Deloise on an earlier project so I jumped in on this one.

The paper I used to copy my pattern was too heavy I think. By the time it was glued to the freezer paper I had a really thick paper to work from. That may not have been the reason, but that’s what I’m going with.

I also think there were errors in the pattern – I couldn’t have made that many mistakes. Once the various pieces were stitched together the sections were all different heights. I added fabric here and there to get it to a point where I could square it up.

I was happy to gift this one to my friend Peggy. For my birthday a couple of years ago she gave me the lovely crocuses I’ve been enjoying.