This project started as a Guild challenge but turned into so much more. Each block finished at 15″ square and I’ve used a couple of them for several mementos from my family and myself. This triptych hung at at 2015 Quilt Show and now resides in my stairwell.

All of the photos can be enlarged to full size by clicking on them.

The Past

 

 

 

Mum’s quilts were called Crazy Quilts but they weren’t entirely what the Guild member who initiated the challenge had in mind. I proceeded with my own idea and used one of Mum’s crazy quilt squares as a starting point. I added a few embroidery stitches but quickly switched to using the fancy stitches on my machine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Present

I decided another block would be a good spot for some of my own mementos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Future

 

 

 

Once the Past and the Present were covered it seemed like a natural progression to look at the future. This is meant to be a blank slate but I added a few fancy stitches and some fun buttons.

 

 

In 2012 two Guild members led a workshop using the One Block Wonder technique. The fabric I chose was all wrong, but it was on the sale table and I was determined to make it work.

The following year, at the Guild’s UFO weekend, another Guild member assisted me with the block placement. We eliminated many of the blocks that didn’t work and she persuaded me to add some cubes. The fabrics I used for the cubes was all wrong so another friend helped me pick out colours that would work better.

The piece hung in the 2015 Quilt Show and now has a home on a wall in my laundry room.

UPDATE: This went to Kathryn

Elizabeth gave me a gift certificate to Traditional Pastimes, one of the quilt shops in Calgary. Pat, Elizabeth and I went shopping and we came home with this Block of the Month kit from Leanne Beasley; all the blocks were included as well as the fabric.

I made the first block (minus the embroidery) at Panorama when I went quilting with Stacia and Deloise in the spring of 2014. It wasn’t until the Texada Retreat in the spring of 2015 that I got down to business and got going on the remaining blocks.

It took most of the summer to finish the embroidery but I enjoyed every minute of it.

I was able to take the quilt to Elizabeth in September on my way back from a week in Panorama.

There are over 250 Lazy Daisy stitches, and almost 300 French Knots in this 49″ square project. When I was quilting the piece I realized that the quilting I planned wouldn’t cover the 4″ maximum called for by the batting I was using. It was Stacia’s idea to use the buttons to hold things in place.

By clicking on any of the photos below you can get a full-sized view.

This was my Guild library project for November. I loved that part of the hanging was done as English paper piecing and then it was finished with traditional background and borders.

The English paper piecing was done in Christmas fabrics so, rather than using the Welcome Home lettering that the pattern suggested, I added the word Joy.

When I quilted the piece I used a Slip and Sew product and I think the results were quite good.

I used a holly template when I quilted the outer border but, because of the pattern in the fabric, it doesn’t show well on the front.

If all my other projects are ever done I’ll borrow this book again; there are many other projects in the book that are quite stunning.