Pets on Quilts - Update - Time to vote

Voting ends Saturday August 24th!

Time for some shameless promotion! Contest has closed to entries and now it's time to vote!

And our Stella is #49 LOL

Here's the link:



 
on www.lilypadquilting.blogspot.ca I knew I had to write this blog and submit an entry. I'm a quilter and I love cats (and dogs too, of course)
I quilt a lot for family and friends and I make cozy cat quilts for friends of @StellaMaybel

This is Stella "helping" me with a quilting project .

Do you think she did a great job? I was pleased with the result. Couldn't have done it without her!

Maybel did add her personal touch as well, but she doesn't want to any credit.

      

Stella is also helping me

with a "Cars" quilt

Now back to the cat quilts:

Meet Mr. Diesel, Don and Molly 

 These lucky friends of Stella and Maybel are loving their cat quilts from www.etsy.com/shop/pieceandtranquilty

Now I hesitate to use the term life changing but Don used to sleep on the tea towel directly behind him on the bed. You just know his awesome novelty themed cat quilt has improved his lifestyle.

Finally, just try to imagine this cutie lying directly on the carpet. What a sad picture that must have made. Oh, and that cat quilt coordinates nicely with the staff's wall to wall!

There are some great sponsors and prizes for this contest and an opportunity to get extra entries by checking out this link: 

You Show Me Yours I'll Show You Mine

I read with interest The Sassy Quilter's blog about her fabric stash. It's linked to this blog
by Sarah@SarahQuilts 

http://sarahquilts.com/2013/08/01/theory-thursday-you-show-me-yours-ill-show-you-mine-linky-party/#comments

So I thought I would share my stash and sewing room too!
When I retired earlier this year I bought two white cabinets on sale at Canadian Tire and, as you can see this one is just about bursting. I actually have a pile of fat quarters in the washing machine at this moment. I hope I can squeeze them in!
The top shelf is mostly cat novelty prints for my Etsy shop cat quilts www.Etsy.com/shop/pieceandtranquilty
The bottom shelf is miscellaneous novelty prints for kids ISpy quilts.
And the rest is mostly fat quarters and quilt backings.
Oh, and that multi-coloured drawer unit? It holds precuts and charm squares and has scissors, pens and rulers on top.

Then we have cabinet #2, filled with projects in progress and UFO's:



That's it for the stash. Here are a couple of photos of the rest of my sewing room which used to be a bedroom:

Sewing and ironing area conveniently placed.

Cutting and sewing stations with a cat napping spot right in the middle! Lots of lighting as you can see. Working for years in a fluorescent lit office has me hooked on bright lighting.

And finally a temporary design wall with latest project. I'm still trying to come up with an idea for a permanent design wall. No walls left in this room.....hmmm, maybe the other spare room?

Anyway, that's my space. Go ahead and show yours to Sarah and The Sassy Quilter. We'd all love to see where you work!

UFO #2 Part deux - Just Finish It!

UFO #2 is completed, labeled and delivered to it's new home. It is now known as "Belinda's Buds" after a very special cat that once belonged to a very special family. This quilt took a long time to complete mainly due to lack of time (okay, procrastination!) but it was also due to some doubts and insecurities. Why do we let these feelings slow us down? The final result was surprisingly satisfying.

Moral of the story? Just finish it!

So, as promised, a photo of the finished quilt:

And a couple of detail shots:

So, on to UFO #3 of 13......well I do have a couple of other priorities this week, and next week is busy......  Fall is closing in, can I finish them all this summer? How many UFO's do you have? Do you have a completion plan? I would love to hear your UFO stories.

Summer Road Trip!

Hubby and I just got back from a 12 day road trip, new camper in tow. We drove from our home in southwestern Quebec through eastern and central Ontario to cottage country. We visited family, camped, hiked, cruised, duck and rabbit watched and discovered several terrific little quilt shops. It seems Ontarians (or is it Ontarioites?) are big on quilting! A happy discovery!

Heading west on the 401 our first stop was Presqu'ile Provincial Park,

right on Lake Ontario and 5 minutes from Brighton, Ontario.

Lake Ontario from Presqu'ile Provincial Park

Nice campground, beautiful scenery, and lo and behold, The Robbins Nest, a great little quilt store. And there I was in need of purple fabric. Coincidence? It really was. Not sure DH was buying it.
This shop is also participating in the annual 401 quilt run October 1 - 31st, hmmm. Another road trip? Who knows?

I found a few fat quarters of purple fabric that are perfect for my quilt guild summer challenge:

Next stop, Indian Lake Campground in Brampton, billed as the closest campground to downtown TO. It was close for sure and not exactly wilderness but it was very neat and clean. After cocktails with family, including Don the cat (who loved his new cat quilt) we had a wonderful dinner at the Mandarin Buffet (Oh boy, what a spread!) Then we relaxed and had a laugh or two at a local pub. We were even chauffeured to and from the campsite. How nice!

 

                                                    Don, the cat trying out his new cat quilt!

The next day we were off to Owen Sound to visit and do some camping with children (2 out of 5) and grandchildren (2 out of 5) I like to keep things even, LOL. And,  of course Molly, the cat! Musn't forget Molly!

 

What a fabulous area. Every time we went out we "bumped into" a quilt store.

Now don't get me wrong we saw some amazing scenery too.

Owen Sound is a beautiful town and the Bruce Peninsula is stunning.

                                         Rising of the Moon - Owen Sound

Flower Pot Island - Georgian Bay

And then there were the fabric shops!

First stop: The Fabric Center, a friendly shop in Owen Sound where I indulged my love of cat novelty fabric. After all,  I do use a lot making cat quilts for www.etsy.com/shop/pieceandtranquilty :

Next stop Wiarton, Ontario, home of Wiarton Willie, our country's famous groundhog! We went on a 3K hike in Wiarton, not my usual form of activity but very rewarding to see the ruins of a stone house, an incredible view from the lookout and an interesting local legend.

But best of all in Wiarton: Mothers Fabric, where I made another addition to my fabric stash. A bit more purple and another cat print:

Another day, off to Lion's Head for an afternoon at the beach and a stop at Greig's Fabric, a cute quilt shop and another purchase:

Back in Owen Sound the local Fabricland was a good source of fabric and supplies for a budding quilter. And I couldn't resist just a couple more pieces to add to my collection. Well everything still fit into the car at least!

We were reluctant to pack up and go before at least one more quilting session which resulted in a beautiful first quilting effort by my daughter! Isn't that a great start?

The weather cooperated on the way home so we took a little side trip to Saranac Lake, New York.

It's nice to be retired and able to do things spur of the moment. 

 Camp fire in Buck Pond State Park. You can almost here the crackle!

And what did we find there?......You guessed it, another quilt shop. Brand new, Piece by Piece Studio and Quilt Shop opened on July 1st this year. How lucky was that? And they had some nice prints and a great polka dot extra wide quilt back fabric on sale for 5.25/yard. Well I couldn't leave that behind now could I? I'll take 3 yards please!

Oops, I forgot the ducks and rabbits! We saw plenty of those as well. Even some that swam right up to us.

Ducks at Lion's Head

Canada Geese at Indian Lake Campground

 

Feeding the ducks at the beach - Lion's Head

Backyard rabbits in Owen Sound

 

We had a wonderful trip! It was great getting together with family we don't get to see very often and to share the quilting bug with them too! I sure hope it's catching!

Is it ever too hot to quilt?

How hot is too hot? It's been over 30C and humid for days. I have 2 cat quilts to quilt and bind and then there's the 376 inches of binding to hand sew onto a bed size quilt by Thursday.

We do have air conditioning, but, it's summer and in Canada summer doesn't last long. Before you know it it's a frigid -30C. Yikes, better enjoy the heat while it's here. So, it's a compromise: spend a couple of hours in the morning working on machine quilting the cat quilts, then outside to enjoy the sun with the family. Once evening arrives, on to hand sewing the binding while watching a little TV. Binding the cat quilts will wait for early tomorrow morning. No Idle time for quilters, and we love it that way!

In the meantime the flowers are loving the warm sun!

And Stella, she just loves the heat! The hotter the better!

So, I guess, for me, it's never too hot to quilt! How about you? How do you handle heat waves?

Who taught you that?

Just throwing that out there. Who taught you to quilt, to sew, to bake, to paint or to knit? Are you self taught or did you take a course?

As we develop we learn our alphabet, how to tie our shoes, brush our teeth and colour in the lines. But how did we learn all those things we really get pleasure from?

I remember my Aunt Helen teaching me how to bake and ice a cake and Mom taught me practical things like how to paint a room or hang a curtain rod.

My quilt journey was probably inspired by my best friend Janet's Mom. I remember her basting quilts on the ping pong table in their basement over 50 years ago. I didn't really understand what she was doing but I was fascinated with the colours and filled with curiosity. We had a sewing machine in our home, I guess everyone did, but my Mom didn't sew. Nor did my grandmother although she darned socks, embroidered and knitted socks and mittens for everyone. I started trying to sew when I was about 8 making clothes for my dolls. By age 12 I was selling these doll clothes to Mom's friends and co-workers. When I hit high school there were Home Economics courses where I found out that I didn't know everything! They actually taught you to sew and to cook in those days with a full program lasting up to 4 years. During this time I developed quite nicely in my sewing skills.

Over the years I searched for a rewarding hobby. I tried knitting, crochet, macramé, stained glass and woodworking. All with minimal success. I yearned for an outlet for my creative side using a skill that I had.  I don't really remember the Aha moment but I think it was when I bought my first quilting magazine. I was hooked. Who taught me? I guess I mostly taught myself but I have to give credit Janet's Mom and to my own Mom for providing the inspiration!

Please tell me about your learning path. I'd love to hear your story. Who was your inspiration

Vermont Quilt Show

The Vermont Quilt Show, held last weekend in Essex Junction, Vermont was awesome! Inspiring prize winning quilts and incredible antiques, a display of Dear Jane quilts and several challenge quilts. Challenge packets for next years show were on sale along with vendors selling everything from quilting machines to thimbles. There were demonstrations and courses and yummy fabric was everywhere.  I indulged my weakness for stash building thinly disguised as "I need fabric for a quilt for my massage therapist!"

I took some great photos but the pamphlet asks that they be published only with credit. Since I don't have details for all my photos, I'd just like to share this prize winner, my favourite, called Finally a Quilt for our Bed pieced and quilted by Kristin Brewer of Waterbury Center, VT:

Here is the official website for the 2013 exhibit and details for future shows:
http://www.vqf.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=1

They're also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vermont-Quilt-Festival/90999492040?ref=ts

And Twitter: @VTQuiltFestival

I know I'll be going back next year and who knows, maybe I'll exhibit!