Exploding Pineapples

We had a very interesting program about exploding pineapples, at the Cabot Quilt Guild, on Tuesday evening. Of course, as quilters, you know right away that I didn't mean the actual fruit exploded! I'm talking about a very simple method to make perfect Pineapple blocks. Karen Hellaby is the author of Sew Simple Pineapple and Pineapple Plus. This YouTube Video shows you how to make the blocks in her books.
Here's a couple of projects two quilters presented using this technique.

Virtual Journey to Japan

I was checking out an Australian site, Auchenflower to Whereever With Chris (well worth a visit by the way). Chris recommended Kimono Reincarnate by Melanie Gray Augustin. She takes you on a virtual tour of her trip to Japan. Today was day 9. Her photos are fantastic!

I noticed she had a couple of photos showing very decorative manhole covers. When I attended the Houston Quilt Festival, 2001, I purchased two quilting books on this theme, Quilting with Manhole Covers and Treasures Underfoot by Shirley MacGregor. These are beautiful books to add to any quilt library. Did I mention that I just love Japanese art - its simplicity of line, colour? You get the message. I have always intended to do something from one of these books but I got caught up in doing my own art instead. Check HERE for photos from these books. I have quite a collection of books on Japanese inspired art quilts.

Enjoy your visit to Japan! Don't forget to check out Chris's blog.

Sheep at Stonehenge

 I can finally tell you about the baby quilt I made since Christmas. I just delivered it. It is called Sheep at Stonehenge. You may think it a strange name for a baby quilt but I did see lots of sheep on my England trip in October, especially at Stonehenge. Also the main fabrics used are from the Stonehenge collection. The pattern is by British quilter, Lynn Edwards. I had been looking for something different and as soon as I saw this one, I knew it was the one to do. If I hadn't come across this one, I would have designed one from scratch. The sheep bodies are fleece with flannel for the faces. Everything else is cotton. I used the blanket stitch on my machine to stitch around the sheep. The flowers were hand stitched.  Free motion stippling was used to quilt it.

The sheep dog is on the back. I will embroider the baby's name and date of birth on the dog's chest when she arrives. 

 This is the book where I found the pattern for the above quilt. A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Lynn when she did some workshops and had a trunk show for the Cabot Quilt Guild here in St. John's.