St. Patrick's Day and International Quilting Day!

 Woohoo!

Time for some green Quilts! LOL! Not often that these two days land on the same weekend.

I finally finished one of my UFOs (unfinished objects).  It's only been 3 years...  AND it was completed before St. Patrick Day. 

When shopping for Disney fabric in the USA, I fell in love with this one.  So I bought enough to make a wall quilt.  But what to put on it?  A book I saw about Celtic knots and this pretty ribbon made up my mind.  Add a cute charm then quilt with embroidery thread in the current big-stitch popularity and here we go!

Quilting more blocks

 Hello!

I've been working on another blog about the Quilt For Canada that was made for Canada's 125th birthday.  Check it out and share with all you know!

Personally, I continued with my monthly projects:

The Esther Block  Sew Along for February:

I have been LOVING the Tinsel wool applique by Sue Spargo and embroidery with the Cotton Harvest.  Here's blocks #1 &2:

And I've been plugging away on my blackwork stitch alongs with Peppermint Purple too.  I have some catching up to do....

This is the 2024 52 week stitch along (its free to join in!):

This is a temperature black work recording the high temperatures of each day this year:

Do Not Get Sick!

 I cannot recommend getting sick.

From 2 weeks before Christmas to last week, it has not been fun... I will however NEVER forget this Christmas season.  LOL!

I've added 1 more block to my Esther Block stitch a long. 
This is my December Block, picking a fabric that had a line in the large center piece along the edge.

This is the January block, cutting one of the pieces into smaller pieces. I did the center jewels.

I finished my 2023 weekly  blackwork from Peppermint Purple:

What's next?

- a 2024 weekly blackwork with Peppermint Purple
- a 2024 temperature bookshelf from Peppermint Purple
- a stitched block of the month with Cotton Harvest called Tinsel by Sue Spargo
- continuing the Esther Block of the month
- getting ready to go to Edmonton in June for Quilt Canada!

Check out my other blog page about the Quilt for Canada!

How about you?

New Project for 2024

 I've been involved with the Canadian Quilters Association (CQA) for quite a few years now.  I've lived in different provinces and regions all across Canada and am a proud Canadian, as I do not really have a 'hometown'.  We moved around too much for that!

In that capacity, I was asked questions and then researched to find out more information about 'A Quilt For Canada'.  This was NOT a project of the CQA, but some people associated this project with them.  

It took a while, but I eventually, through luck found out all about it!  

It was 1990 and Canada's  125th Anniversary was coming up.  Deborrah Sherman who published her own quilting magazine had an idea to collect blocks from across Canada and create a large quilt to celebrate Canada!  I love projects that promote Canada....

By the time the project was complete, there was a total of 464 blocks sent in from all the provinces, the USA and abroad.  All Canadians, all ages, all abilities put stitches in the final sandwich pieces that were then connected into one quilt.  The finished size is 15' x 17'.  That's FEET! It was displayed in Ottawa and then toured Canada a bit with Eaton's and also the Creative Sewing and Needlework festivals.  

I have since received permission to share images of the blocks and the project.  Deborrah still has the quilt , as no one in the 90's wanted to take possession of it.  I'd love to see this beautiful work displayed again.  We are hoping to find a permanent home for this LARGE quilt, so I started another blog about it.  Check out A Quilt for Canada.  

I will be posting blocks each week and more information about the project.  It will take me the year to post all of them, so please be patient! LOL! Some of the block descriptions do not have a photo.   If you have pictures of the block you or someone you know made and we do not, please share! 

Making of A Christmas Card

 I have been making our Christmas Cards for almost 30 years now.  These are from 2011 and 2013

I still make my mom cards each year to send to her family and friends.  It's a perfect birthday present, and she does not have to buy cards.  This is this year's:

Most of the time they were stamped and coloured.  Lately though I have been thinking that this much work was not too appreciated.  So I started dabbling in digital cards.  That is, create it on the computer and then get them printed to send out.  This year I went a step further and just made postcards.  They are usually recycled anyway.  But they have photos of me, my hubby and our dog, Shadow if they wish to keep them.  I photographed a background:

Then placed it in my digital program and had them printed by Forever.  Got them a couple weeks later and they look great!  This is also the company I send my scrapbooks to be printed.

I hope Christmas is a happy one for you all.  

Crafty Gifts

 So I like to give crafty gifts. (NOOO!!!) 

BUT I am generally careful who I give these gifts to.  In the past, like most of you, I have given crafty or unique gifts that were not appreciated, or discarded.  Yes, once you give a gift, it is out of your hands what they do with it.  I have however placed quite a bit of time in making this item for YOU.  Because I thought YOU would like it.

That said, one of my friends is crazy for giraffes like I am.  When I saw this blackwork pattern I had to make it.  As I was making it, her name kept coming into my brain.  So I decided it was to be given to her.  I can make myself one later. She got it this past weekend.

This is the first in an experiment that I want to combine blackwork or cross-stitch into wall quilts.  And these two gave my skills a work out!  I found out that I haven't been threading my machine right for quilting, so that is why the thread kept breaking!  It does not lie as flat as I would like, but it is still nice.  I even stitched some hearts into the border fabric.  Yes, I used furry fabric (probably shouldn't have but I wanted to make it special)

So here it is, my first of hopefully a series of such quilts.  

More Christmas Postcards

 

A couple weeks ago I showed the fabric postcards I made last year.  This year I stepped up my game and made more after the initial swap was done.  My swap friend got this one:

And these went to some other quilty friends that would appreciate the work...

Basically these are 5x6" with the top being fabric blocks or scraps, embellished with anything I like. (usually from the dollar store) Machine or hand stitching embellishment.  Then add a layer of Peltex and then a backing fabric.  Then zigzag the edges to keep it all together.

These are addictive, and I have another batch being readied for more friends...