Mom's Christmas Quilt

Hi all!

For my last post of 209, I thought I'd show you the quilt I finally finished for my mom.
I started it in 2017, then put it aside for some reason that sounded good at the time. (Cannot remember what?)
This year at our guild we continued a UFO challenge. (Un Finished Objects) My mom'd quilt was on the list and the first to be picked to finish!  So away we go!  Let me start by saying I learned a very important lesson.  Denim is heavy, tough and stubborn!  I went through 7 Denim needles and a couple small cones of thread.  I was tired after each day I wrestled with this heavy thing trough my domestic machine!  But it was so worth it!  It turned out great!

I used June Taylor's Charming Circles Template to start, then thought I could do it quicker with an Olfa circle cutter.  Nope!  The denim fought back and tore up the skin of my fingers after 20 or 40 circles.  I needed 304.  Towards the end, I went back to the template to trace and hand cut them.

I used denim from all our family members and bought some pink Northcott fabric for the 5" squares.
Sewed the squares to the back of the denim, then the circles into rows and connected the rows.

As I mentioned, toward the end, the weight of the fabric was a challenge to keep under control and not strain my machine.  I got my hubby to come see and take pics to understand why I am NOT interested in quilting anything larger than a baby quilt on my domestic machine!

Once sewed together and quilted, I ran it through the washing machine and then 3 sets of 30 minute intervals in the dryer.  The lint trap needed to be emptied so not to over heat the machine.

So here is the final work about to be given to my mom for Christmas.  I added embroidered info in the bottom corner today and after this photo session, I packed it up for our trip south. This post is being written a few days before and scheduled, as I do not want to forget to share!

Happy New Year to you all and may you knock off some UFOs of your own!
Hugs!
Cindy

Merry Christmas!

Hello!

I still make some cards for special occasions and of course Christmas!

This year I made these cards for my sister and mother to send to family and friends.

Our cards looked like this.

I also participated in an ABC tag swap with friends from Alberta.  Each year we get given a letter of the alphabet and need to make 26 identical tags with the theme of Winter Wonderland.  My letter this year was 'T'.  We then get a full alphabet back each year.

I've only got a few more letters to do until I have done the entire alphabet!  Yay!  I hope your winter celebrations are filled with love and family!  See you in 2020!

Hugs,
Cindy :)

Refurbished Quilt

Hello!

We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this past September.  This was an almost 3 week trip south to the ABC islands and Florida.  As we have a fur-baby that needs to be taken care of, my sister was kind enough to come up to the Soo and do this for us.  So I decided to finish re-making a quilt our grandmother had given her years ago, as a thank you.

Now this quilt was pieced by our aunt, and then hand quilted by our grandmother.  The fabrics she used were the clothing that was worn by the family over the years.  All her quilts are this way.  We love them!  My sister REALLY loved hers.... to pieces!  Some of the fabric was disintegrating and the back was in shreds.  When she gave it to me, she asked if I could repair it.  I said no.  BUT maybe I could use parts of it to make her something smaller?  She readily agreed as she wanted something of our grandmother to keep.

  So I spent some time taking the blocks apart and then using a fabric shaver to get rid of the pills.  I cut the blocks down to a uniform size.  then sat down to figure out what I could do.  My sister had created these tie died pieces the summer before, and one of them were the perfect colours to add to this quilt.  Then, I used some sleeves of our father's shirts to make a border.

The backing and binding are flannel, as she usually used flannel sheets to back her quilts then just roll the fabric to the front and sew it down.  Our grandmother did one specific style of quilting, which I have learned is called the Baptist Fan.  So I asked a good friend to use this pattern on her long arm to mimic our grandmother's style.

I called it 3 Generations.  It is now a memory quilt she will hopefully enjoy for many years.
It was completed in time for me to display it at our quilt show in July.

Hugs!
Cindy :)

Trend Tex Challenge at Quilt Canada

Hi!

I got inspired to try a challenge last fall.  Each year Quilt Canada has a few challenges and this one is sponsored by Trend Tex.  We purchased a registration kit which included 5 fat quarters.  We needed to use all five of these on the surface of our project that would be no bigger than 72" in diameter.  The theme was #Trending.  I do not do Twitter, so this in itself was a learning curve!

I came up with the idea that mermaids were popular, therefore trending?  The one fabric spoke scales to me so I went from there.  I used the fancy stitches on my sewing machine for the first time, and also used the fabric paint again to highlight the scales.

I'm a confessed Disney nut, so when I saw these buttons, I just KNEW it had to be a twitter feed from Ursula (The Little Mermaid witch)

Hand stitching the letters, and free motion quilting trying to mimic fish and bubbles.  I went to visit my work at Quilt Canada in June, but this competition required you to donate the piece for a silent auction at the show.  I couldn't justify the costs of trying to place a winning bid to receive this piece back though, so I hope whomever now owns it, likes it!

Hugs!
Cindy

3rd Story at Quilt Canada

Hi!

In June I was lucky to be able to attend the Quilt Canada Quilt Show in Ottawa.  It's an easy drive from here and my cousin was also interested in going with me.  We decided to take a class with fellow Canadian Andrea Tsang Jackson.  She was showing us the basics of Foundation Paper Piecing.  We were able to complete the 16x 16" top in the full day class.  And was it FUN!   Andrea is a very patient teacher and was willing to jump in and help us when we got turned around.  "Ok, no problem!  We'll just do this!"  Her company is https://3rdstoryworkshop.com/ and we used her Sleepy Fox pattern.  SO CUTE!!!! She also taught us a woodgrain free motion quilting technique and made it look so easy, I actually tried it!  Works great!

I've decided to take a picture with the teachers I am lucky enough to meet.  So here we are!

Thank you Andrea for a great day, and I apologise for the late thank you!

Hugs!
Cindy

More Banners

Hello!

Here are some more smaller projects I completed to date.

This Easter panel was my first 'original' design.  I simply copied one of the bunnies on the fabric and the mirrored it smaller to make the second bunny.
This summer, the US guild had a juried quilt show and I wanted some feedback on my work, so I wanted to include this one.  But it wasn't quite right....

So I took my fabric paints and painted over this finished and quilted piece!  I took a chance, but I'm happier with the results. The judges deemed it a 'good' work, liking my applique.

I also finished a quick Halloween panel from my UFO pile.

Thanks!
Cindy