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.

Christmas Challenge Quilt

I have finished a wall hanging for Christmas and it has gone to a good home.  It was one of 2 prizes in a raffle held within my work group to raise money for Water for Kids.  As public health people we all understand how important clean water is and what a huge difference it makes to disease rates.  The other prize was some wonderful pottery.

I quilted part of the quilt after attending a Trunk Show by Karen McTavish.  Some how my usual passable meandering became quite an intricate pattern.

The quilt was made for a quilt guild challenge and the blue fabric was the piece I received and it told me it had to be a sky in a Christmassey landscape.  So a sky it became.  I amazed myself by actually drawing a passable reindeer and appliqueing them into the sky.  I avoided trying to give Santa a face by calling it North to Home.  Santa is dozing inside the hood of his coat and trusting the reindeer to get him home safely.

Here are 2 pictures.

New post

I am going to attempt to update my blog more regularly. When I am not doing much quilting there is nothing to blog about though.

Here are some pictures of a lap quilt I made last year.

It was for a friend and is called "Hugs for Monica"

The rose block is from a book called "101 Lag Cabin Blocks" by Linda Causee.

The quilt is an original design, machine pieced and quilted.

The pinky orange fabric used in the log cabin block and for the roses was hand painted using Setacolor paints.

I mailed a lap size quilt to my BIL today. It is the first quilt to be used for the original purpose quilts were made for that I have done. I started out with a fall palette but changed it a bit because some of the fabrics I chose from my stash were not large enough. It was a good excuse to go shopping. I used up nearly all the fabric I bought as I pieced the back. I have decided I like making the back a bit interesting. It is now muted greens with a brown border. I free motion quilted it with a vine and leaf design. My machine quilting is getting better but still lots of room for improvement.

The quilt is called Hugs for Peter.

Have also finished the small wall hanging I started in the Hilary rice workshop too. Haven't photographed it yet.