I want to post some pictures of table runners I have made for Christmas.  I started making them in 2004 and have made a few since then.  Believe there is one among my UFO's too.  Doing 2 of these was really the beginning on my quilting career.
Currently I am working on a pin cushion for a challenge at FAB which is Fibre Art Bee of Sherwood Park Quilters.  We are all making a pincushion which we will gift to another member of the group.  I am making a cup cake.  I am also working on Christmas Stockings which will be raffled to raise money for Water for Kids.  Hand washing is so important for food safety and Water for kids raises money to provide hand washing stations in schools and villages in Africa.  And there is a wall hanging that is currently getting a binding.  This is a UFO from a guild Christmas Challenge a year of two ago.  It has a tree made of green hexies.

This one went to my sister who had a large           dinning room table.

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One of these was for my daughter and I think one was raffled.

I think I have made about ten of them and have promised on to my DB but not for Christmas and will do a non Christmas one for me too.  

I haven't been posting but I have been quilting.

I finished a "quiz" piece I started in a class with Pam Allen and turned it into a card.  The quiz involved getting a rectangle of fabric with part of a picture in it.  In my case it was a fragment of a Picasso.  The then we were given 20 minutes it expand it into a composition.  It was fun.

This is a painted quilt from an on line class with Annette Kennedy at Crafts

I did a piece for the Trendtex challenge at Quilt Canada 2012.  Will post a picture of that as soon as Quilt Canada is over.  I started a piece I wanted to submit to another show but didn't get it finished in time.  Maybe next year.

Also did a piece for the 6 x 24 challenge for the Prairie Rose competition.  This is my first time to enter a piece in this show.  It is open to the EDQG.  Also did a piece for the "Buttons and Beads" challenge.  Can't post pictures of these until the end of June.

And this one is a work in progress.  It is another piece from Pam Allen's workshop.  The composition had to have 3 pieces of fabric for the background and more than one person in it.    I am looking forward to working on it.  

And that is it for today.

I don't have any pictures to post of my work but had a wonderful class with David Taylor in Canmore.  I will add a picture of the gull I am using as a basis for my quilt.  It is a picture I took in Grand Manan a couple of years ago.  I am thrilled with my gull even though so far he is only pined in place.  I am going to make another head for him as some of the fabrics I used are not folding over nicely.  I am planning on making a head of him as a journal quilt to practice the new techniques I learned.

I did have a go at David Taylor's applique method on a postcard I made for a post card swap I am currently involved in.  I like making postcards as they are a good place to try small samples of new things.  I enjoyes this method of hand applique and was pleased with my efforts.

If you are not familiar with David's work here is a link to his web site. http://www.davidtaylorquilts.com/  Do go and have a look.

Photographs 


I am currently working on quilts from 2 photographs.  One of a green turtle on a black sand beach was taken in Hawaii when we were there over Christmas 2010.

I am hoping to combine both of these photos.  This quilt is taking an ATC I made last year and expanding the ideas and techniques I used.

Here is the ATC.     

The second one is a picture of a Herring Gull from a holiday on Grand Manan Island.  That picture is blown up and ready to start work on.  I will be working on this one in a workshop with David Taylor.  It was a foggy day.

I don't expect this quilt to be finished in a hurry.












Well that is all for now.
Next week I will post a picture of the beautiful hand made book I received this week from my friend Suesara.  It is beautiful but also a challenge.  I am to use it as a art and quilting journal and she expects me to make enough entries to fill it by the end of the year.  I am excited by this challenge as it will make me stretch and learn.
I have had a doodle which I would like to make into a quilt called the Ghost of old Sewing Rooms for some time.  I think this will be the first idea I work on in my new journal.

Tote Bag

I would like to share a photo of a tote bag I made a few months ago.  The block is a curved log cabin that is cut apart and then sewn back together.  I learned the technique in a workshop with Patti Morris. I had made "wonky" log cabin blocks before and done lots of quilting using curved seams.  This is the first time I put them both together.  

I joined the two sides together using an adaptation of Cotton Theory method of joining.  It worked well and gave the bag a finished inside without exposed seams.  It was a bit fiddly in the bottom corners.  But I would do it again.

Close up of quilting.  I used a leaf design
I have done before.  

More Time to Quilt Well I am retired. Have to go in for a final day when I have used up my holidays. That will be the middle of February. I am planning to spend more time quilting. Have a couple of projects to do. I am working on a quilt that is a larger version of an ATC I made last year using a photo of a green turtle I took in Hawaii. I have the fabrics for the Trendex Challenge for Quilt Canada. The theme is My Garden by the Sea. I have enrolled in 3 classes at Craftsy and want to start the one using paints. Have done a little practicing. So I have lots planned to keep me busy. And I will post a blog entry every week. With pictures.