Happy Canada Day Weekend

Have a great Canada Day everyone!

Totally Tutorials / Stuff!

Today was spent making a Sesame Street cuddle quilt for my granddaughter. Needless to say, it's not quite ready to show yet. I found the panel at Fabricville ages ago. As with most printed panels, nothing is square. I will try to straighten the sides as much as possible without losing too much of the edge but I think it will still be a bit wonky! But thankfully, two year olds don't look at these things! She will be more interested in Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Elmo. I am doing free-motion stitching on the top. It's not perfect but will have to do. My Husqvarna Designer SE complained about needing a firmware upgrade. The problem is, it had its final upgrade in November and there is not suppose to be another. Bummer! I will have to finish the quilt on my other smaller machine.

That's my little rant for today. I hope you have fun searching through the following tutorials:

Enjoy!

• Chick Pincushion
• Doll Making Tutorials
• Free Paper Piecing Patterns
• Crafty Little Things to Sew
• Fabric Box Tutorial
• Stitched in Color Quilts
• Sewing Tutorials
• Sew for Home and much more
• For the Quilter
• Making Stamps

Door Crown Pattern I designed years ago.

Pinterest

A friend mentioned one day that she gets on pinterest and time flies. I now know what she means. Tonight I decided to figure out how to manage my pinterest account. I set one up ages ago but hadn't done much with it.

Pinterest is a visual bookmarking website that allows you to pin images and videos that you find online and want to save and share with others onto virtual pinboards. People can follow you or your pinboards on Pinterest. They can repin  any of the content that they like from your board. You can do the same from other pinboards. It's a great way to categorize items you want to save and reference later.

So far, I've created nine boards: birds, quilts, sewing kits, embroidery, felting, knitting, crochet, hexagons, and pouch/totes/purse. I'm sure more will be created. There's not much in the boards yet but I'm sure that will change.

Chiffon

A few days ago I purchased several pieces of chiffon at Fabricville. They had a sale of buy one, get two free. Not one to pass up a bargain . . . ! I bought several colours as I liked the patterns and figured they might be useful for foliage and flowers. I hadn't stitched much chiffon before with free motion and I wasn't disappointed as it worked the same as organza. It was also easy to burn with the stencil cutter. Now I have a wider range of colours to use for making foliage and flowers. I thought I had three pieces of green but when I got home the limy green I really wanted wasn't there. It had stripes like the pink in the corner of the photo. Guess I have to take another trip to the store. This time I'll make sure the bolts are left on the table before someone quickly puts them back. I usually check to see that I have the fabrics I want but this time I didn't! 

• Chiffon Applique. Ruth O'Leary Textile Art
• Beads made from Chiffon & Threads. Carolyn Saxby Mixed Media Textile Art
• Textile Art - Chiffon. Klare Poelchau
• Chiffon is Blooming in January. Diana Trout
• Craft Projects using Chiffon

Enjoy!

Poppies

I have been watching the poppies outside my studio window for the last week wondering when they would open. This morning I was finally rewarded with this beauty!

Poppies in textile art - eye candy for your pleasure!

• Hand embroidery by Jessica Coote, UK.  Visit her blog
• Kirsten Chursinoff Textile Art, Vancouver, Canada (poppies in blue)
• Linda Matthews, USA. "Poppy" Art Bag and  Linda Hearts Poppy
• Laura Rose (interview, scroll down for poppy postcard)
• Jannick Deslauriers, Toronto, Canada. Fragile Sculptures,
• Moy Mackay, Scotland.  Textile Landscapes
• Sally Gould Wright, California, USA.  Poppy Love
• Eileen Gidman, Creston, BC, Canada.  Painting Poppy Pods with Dyes
• Nicky Perryman Textile Artist, UK. Wild About Poppies
• DIY: Fabric Poppy Flower Gift Toppers
• Richard Box, UK.  Poppies (scroll down)

Enjoy!

Post 600!

This is my 600 blog post! I can't believe I have written that many different posts. Thank you to all my followers, readers and to those who have left comments. You are all much appreciated.

Now for some tutorials to check out!

• Lots of tutorials at Terri Stegmiller's blog
• Circle Zip Ear Bud Pouch
• Everyday Beautiful Tutorials
• Fabric Sewing Caddy
• 6 Summer Sewing Projects
• 24 Beautiful Purse Patterns
• 25 + Things to Sew
• Something About Nothing Tutorials

Enjoy!!

Welcome Summer!

It's 8:00 here in St. John's, Newfoundland. I just opened my patio door to a beautiful 20C and wonderful sunshine - awe, Summer! I hope it lasts. Those of you living on the mainland and further south may be a bit puzzled over this but we live in the middle of the great North Atlantic and sometimes the weather is a bit crazy. It isn't often that we can sit outside at such an early hour.

I know I should be thinking cool thoughts and passing on some wonderful summer projects (I did do some of that yesterday), however, Freebies for Crafters just posted the latest freebie, Winter Seeds Table Topper. It is a very simple patchwork with machine applique. I think the shape was what caught my eye. This table topper is part of the Christmas Once a Month featured by the Crafty Quilter. Check them out! By using bright, summery fabrics you can change the Winter Seeds table topper into a Summer Surprise or Summer Delight! Have fun making up your own title for your table topper.
Enjoy!

Summer!

Tomorrow is officially the first day of SUMMER. We are just now starting to get semi warm weather and the weekend is suppose to be warm and sunny according to Environment Canada. All the rain we've had has been good for the plants. Look what's blooming in my front garden. I don't remember it's name but isn't it just gorgeous!

To celebrate the arrival of summer (tomorrow), check out two previous posts HERE, and HERE as they have lots of links for you to search.
Also, take a peek at these!

• Fold up Picnic Mat (lots of tutorials & free patterns)
• Insulated Beverage Holders (lots of sewing projects)
• Quilted Wine Tote (so cute)
• Strawberry Tote Tutorial
• Sunshine Quilted Wall Hanging
• Sailboat Quilt Block
• Scoop It Up Wall Hanging (download the PDF)

 
 
Enjoy!

Totally Tutorials!

This is a very short post! However, I think it will take you some time to check out the 101 Sewing Tutorials for Summer in Everything Etsy.

As I've written before, I have spent some time exploring the internet for interesting 'stuff' for quilters, embroiderers, crafters, fiber artists . . .  You get the message. Enjoy exploring as you never know where it will lead.

C & M Crafts, Carmanville, NL

Last year I posted about The Fabric Shop in Gander, NL. Well, this time, I visited the sister shop, C & M Crafts in Carmanville.

Wouldn't you know it - they are closed on Fridays! However, I did get into the shop to have a look around. Marion Gillingham, the owner, was in Gander at the other store, so her husband let me look around and take photos to share with you. As you can see, there is a wide range of fabrics, notions and patterns to choose from. The two shops have a different range of fabrics with very little duplication. I did purchase a few batiks at The Fabric Shop back in Gander.

Quilters in central Newfoundland are very lucky to have these two quilt shops!

Everything for knitting and hand embroidery

Hand Embroidery Patterns

Ribbons, zippers and fabric

Notion wall! Everything at your finger tips.

Lots of nice patterns!

Hand Embroidered Red Work with NL Tartan



I like the yellow tape measure fabric and would have purchased it but . . .

Road Trip

Last week, we took a few days and went to Gander. From there, we visited Twillingate, where I have some of my smaller pieces of art at the Driftwood Gallery. It was a cold, drizzly day so it wasn't really ideal for taking photos. We did visit the Longpoint Lighthouse which is located 331 feet above sea level on top of a cliff named Devil's Cove Head in Twillingate. The view, in good weather, would be spectacular. Here's a few photos of the lighthouse. Aren't the spiral steps interesting! We found out that this is one of the few manned lighthouses left around the island.

 

Check out these links:

• Paper Pieced Lighthouse
• Quilt Patterns for Lighthouses
• Lighthouse Quilts on Pinterest
• Free Lighthouse Patterns
• Art Quilts

Enjoy!

Bloglovin and Other Stuff!

Things have been hectic since November and I haven't been able to do as much as I hoped in relation to my blog. I want to change this, If you look on the side bar you will see I have added a new button, Bloglovin, to make it easier to follow my blog, if you aren't already.

I have been doing a lot of on-line research and tagging lots of tutorials and patterns that I want to share. My future posts, will again, contain links for you to visit - of course they will be related to the topic of the day, which, as you see below, are Forget Me Not flowers.

Happy Father's Day, little brother, also to my husband, and to all the dads out there. Below, are my brother's favorite flowers, Forget-me-not. As you can see, I have been putting in lots of mulch! I hope the weeds stay away this summer.

Here are a few links for you to enjoy and they weren't in my saved folder either!

• Forget Me Not Embroidery
• Templates, Patterns for Crafts on Pinterest (ideas)
• Mountmellick Forget Me Not (eye candy)
• Forget me Not Stain Glass Pattern (not free)
• Forget Me Not Border
• Alaska: Forget-Me-Not (check for all the USA State Flowers)
• Free pattern - posy! (applique)
• Embroidery pattern ideas (scroll down for flowers)
• Flower Garden Pillow Tutorial

Enjoy!

Woodlands for the Landscape Quilter

Last week, the Cabot Quilt Guild had a two day 'Woodlands for the Landscape Quilter' workshop with Nancy Bergman. This is a new class for Nancy. Twenty students were challenged to create their own woodland scene by playing with scraps of fabric and exploring the tricks of creating an illusion of visual depth resulting in a small art quilt. The background fabrics were provided as well as a selection of other fabrics to create tree trunks, ground cover and shrubs. As you will see in the samples below, each one was different. It was interesting to see the background fabrics quilters selected.

 

Nancy Bergman

Part Three: Incorporating Paper into Wedding Decor and Gifts by Guest Blogger, Laura Holden

Paper Craft for Décor and Gifts

Perhaps a paper wedding dress or suit isn’t quite a good idea (although it has been done!) but apart from that, there are few limits on what you can create in the way of décor and gifts for weddings. There are so many ways to use paper—from quilling and quilting, to scrap-booking and paper-folding—that it’s possible to decorate an entire wedding simply using various types of paper. Starting with hand-designed and hand-made wedding invitations such as those by Kerry at Kerry’s Paper Crafts. Other decorative items that can be hand-made using paper include coasters, place cards, menus, and gift boxes. Tissue-paper-thin decorations can look ethereally lovely, especially when paired with well-placed spot lighting.

Even the bride’s bouquet (not to mention center-pieces) can be crafted from paper, and surprisingly enough, a classical, elegant look can be obtained using sheets from old books. These roses are made by paper-crafter Valerie Lloyd, and a tutorial for making these pretty blooms is provided by 100 Layer Cake.

Paper quilting and quilling both lend themselves to the wedding theme extremely well. Mixed media collage artist Michaela Laurie, has developed several paper quilting techniques which involve piecing together paper and sewing it just like a quilt. A quite different technique with a similar name, paper quilling is the practice of rolling, shaping, and gluing paper in decorative shapes and patterns. The technique was developed during the renaissance period and popularized during the eighteenth century. Recently rediscovered, the art of quilling has been transformed by the multitude of colors and paper types now available. Quilling techniques have become highly intricate, as seen in this example by Manuela Koosch of Quilling by Manuk. Both quilting and quilling can be used to create extraordinary works of art that make wonderful wedding gifts, and of course are perfect for traditional first anniversary gifts.

Part One HERE
Part Two HERE

Enjoy!

Embroidery Guild Show & Tell for May

Take a look at these lovely pieces from the May Show and Tell, St. John's Embroidery Guild.

Machine Embroidered Clutch Bag

Tree of Life was won by one of our members
at the Embroidery Guild of Canada conference.

A finished stump work piece!

June is the Wedding Month!

This is the second of a three part article by Laura Holden. Check HERE for part one.

Photo Quilts as Wedding Gifts or Favors

To recap:
June and July always seem to be the big wedding months—and wedding anniversaries too, of course—so it’s a good time to hunt down some inspiring ideas and patterns for gifts and decorations. You don’t have to work with fabric specifically to make some gorgeous wedding-themed creations.

For example, a quilt is a wonderful gift for a newly-married couple, but for an interesting twist on the idea, a photo quilt is a great way to make an already personal gift even more so. And it’s certainly less back-breaking work than the traditional double wedding ring quilt!

Melissa Mortenson of The Polka Dot Chair creates gorgeous personalized photo quilts for members of her family, and her site includes not one but two tutorials for printing photos directly onto special photo fabric. It’s also possible to use transfer paper and an inkjet printer to transfer photo images onto fabric. Idonette of D’Vine Living offers a tutorial on this method, which offers the advantage of not requiring dedicated photo fabric.

On a much smaller scale, quilted photo fabric, with photos of the bride and groom as children or adults might be used to create wedding favors such as place cards, small bags or pouches, handkerchiefs, or napkins.

I agree with Laura. Creating unique gifts using photo fabric certainly would make a statement!

For other wedding favors / gifts check the following:

• 50 Great Wedding Favors
• Wedding Favors from Pinterest
• Photo Transfer to Canvas
• Bubble Jet Set 2000
• Printing on Fabric (earlier post)
• Experimental Piece: Row Houses (earlier post)
• Quilty Habit Tutorial using Bubble Jet Set 2000
• Making Memory Candles

Nancy Bergman Workshop

This Saturday, Sunday and Monday I will be attending two workshops given by Nancy Bergman, quilt artist, from Ontario, Canada. I was first introduced to Nancy's beautiful work when I attended the Kitchener Waterloo and Area Quilt festival in 2004. I had a small piece entered into the exhibit called Constructions of Canada, and was attending the show. Nancy also had a piece there called Kenora Boatyards - 1906. Needless to say, I was smitten by that piece and kept going back to view it. This piece caught everyone's attention as it won the 2004 Grand Prize, Constructions of Canada. Take a few minutes to view more of Nancy's work.

The Cabot Quilt Guild and the Eastern Edge Quilt Guild are hosting two of Nancy's workshops

• Woodlands for the Landscape Quilter
• Sky, Water, Islands, Shorelines, Icebergs and Thread Painting Pine Trees for the Landscape Quilter

Hopefully I'll get some photos to share with you. According to the course descriptions, it should be three interesting days!

Flying Geese

Thanks to my niece, here is a photo of the baby quilt that I posted about yesterday. Now you can see all the little triangles that my sister cut and stitched.

Baby Quilt

I finally got a photo of the baby quilt my sister made for her first grandchild in Austin, Texas.
It's called 40 Dozen Geese Flying North for the Summer! Isn't it just beautiful, but then I'm a bit biased. It has 960 triangles which translates into 480 coloured geese. The quilt has a bamboo batting.

I remember my sister saying she used Thangles Quilting Paper to make the small triangles. That looks like an easy way to do it. You can view a demonstration of the Thangles method HERE but if you are into using traditional methods for this technique, check HERE.

The Purl Bee has a tutorial of a Mini Quilt of the Month, July: Flying Geese.
Connecting Threads also has a tutorial on Flying Geese - Make 'em Fast
These triangles are not in my future but they might be in yours!
Enjoy. . .

 

 



Newfoundland Pony

Sunday, I took a trip around the bay and spied this little fella, a Newfoundland Pony, in Crocker's Cove, Trinity Bay. He was very friendly and came close to say hello! He got a pat on the head and his picture taken. This breed of pony, originating in Newfoundland, are hard workers and easy to maintain. Its ancestors are from the British Isles and adapted well to the Newfoundland climate. At the moment the population numbers less than 400 and are now considered endangered by Rare Breeds Canada. If you wish to learn more about this breed, please check the links above.

 

Here are a few sites for you check out:

• Paper Pieced Horse
• Applique Horse (This one caught my eye!)
• Hobby Horse Ornament
• Strapping Stick Horse
• Free Horse Quilt Patterns
• Rocking Horse
• Fabric Portrait of a Horse Quilt Block (Interesting)
• Painted Ponies Swedish Dala Horse

Enjoy!

Incorporating Textiles and Paper into Wedding Fashion, Décor, and Gifts

Today I have a guest blogger, Laura Holden, a freelance writer whose biggest hobby (after writing) is knitting. Her grandmother was an avid knitter and gave knitwear for Christmas presents. I can relate to that, as my mother did the same thing.

Knitting has become popular again especially after the Royal Wedding when Kate Middleton wore a knitted bolero over her dress at the reception. You can see it in this article about weddings and knitwear that Laura sent to me. Check out the free patterns on the right side of the article.

Laura commented that I have a great set of resources on my site (thank you, Laura), among them some knitting themes. Check here and here for a couple of these. She also offered to write an article for my blog and I took her up on that. However, I did split the article into three parts. Here's the first one:

June and July always seem to be the big wedding months—and wedding anniversaries too, of course—so it’s a good time to hunt down some inspiring ideas and patterns for gifts and decorations. You don’t have to work with fabric specifically to make some gorgeous wedding-themed creations.

Knits Make Great Gifts and Fashion Statements

While few people are willing to knit an entire wedding dress, as English knitter, Lydia Taylor did in 2012, well-chosen wool and needles can create beautiful accent pieces. The trend towards making knitted wedding fashions part of the event can work in any season, even in the heat of summer. Cute cloche hats for the bride and bridesmaids add a fun element to a summer wedding, and styles like this crocheted cloche with straw accents, made by Linda Kilpatrick of The Teacup Milliner, are perfect wedding attire. For some truly inspired and inspiring ideas, visit AnnieBee Knits, the blog of Anne Blayney, who produced three amazing pieces for her sister’s wedding. For her sister and herself she created delicate silk lace shawls, which definitely fall into the category of wearable art. The third piece, her wedding gift to the bride and groom, is a geometric knit of vibrant colors that is no less than stunning.

Incorporating knitted pieces into a wedding doesn’t require making an entire garment or a full-size blanket. Thinking small can have results that are just as spectacular. Anna Hrachovec, who runs the blog MochimochiLand, knitted more than 200 flowers for her own wedding, and used them for her simply sweet bouquets, boutonnières, and table centerpieces.

 

I will be posting a second part soon!

 

Here's a short list of other sites related to weddings to visit:

• Six Little Wedding Knits from Cotton & Cloud
• Bamboo Wedding Shawl from The Purl Bee (pattern included)
• Free Knitting Patterns from Vogue Knitting
• Royal Wedding Knitting Patterns (the video is a chuckle)
• Kate Middleton Angora Bolero/Shrug

Enjoy!

 

 

Cabot Quilt Guild Show & Tell

Show & Tell this month was great. There were so many large quilts. In fact, it was the largest display I've ever seen at a monthly Show & Tell! Here are a few of them:



Bargello is reversible. Other side is below.

From Elaine Quehl workshop