Traditional Quilter with a Twist: December 2014

Monday 15 December 2014

Joyeux Noel et Bonne Année

With Christmas around the corner, it's time to be with family and friends.

So, until January have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Retreat Galore!

Retreat 2009-2010

The first time I went to a retreat I didn't know what to expect, so I joined the mystery quilt craziness and finished the blocks on the first day there.

And then switched to my Dresden plate. I sewed tons of large and small petals, hoping to rid of my bright-scrappy fabric. I didn't even make a dent into it. The pattern was from a Quiltmaker magazine.

Retreat 2011-2012

Using white-green fabric I purchased in a previous years and the pattern Be Square.

Retreat 2012-2013

I sewed half-Triangle in blues, greens and whites. There are 100 blocks in this queen size quilt.

There are so many varieties of the curved-log cabin design and choose to make this one of my own.

The Hexagon Park posted below is the one I worked on at the retreat this year.

Quilting Frenzy

My blog is another fanciful project I started last spring. My goals were twofold: To encourage other quilters who procrastinated over their project, because nobody knows they are addicted quilter. Our ambitions are so wild with have the tendency to take to many projects at hands and they are left unfinished in a dark, dark corner of our sewing room.
Also, I wanted to share my love for quilting with other quilters. There are so many tools and techniques out and it's overwhelming at times, but if you're like me and is anxious to try a few, then I hope you enjoy what I'm posting here.

My small stash of fabric

Project 8: Diva

Ten years ago I purchased a Diva pattern and got in mind to sew it right away, but homeschooling my three children made that a bit of a challenge and left the poor Diva aside for now. Then two years ago, I pulled the Diva out of my drawer and got the ambitious idea that nothing would stop me this time . When all the pieces were fused on, I was so how disappointed with certain things. One of them is I wanted to personalized the Diva. I didn't want her to look so old granny. After procrastinating of the project, I finally finished it.

I changed Quilt Diva for my motto which is Quilter4Him

Instead of sleepers and a skirt, I fuse cowboy boots and caprice Jean.

My fillers choice worked well on this design. It gave depth and texture.

I used some of Leah Day and Angela Walters for brainstorming fillers ideas

Project 3: Big Ten

This pattern made of small and large squares and rectangles, made it interesting in many colours schemes. This is my third time I sewed this pattern and each time, I tried to do different free-motion quilting.

I wanted a fall theme with this one and also it's part of our guild photo-quilt challenge.
I love how it turned out and I may do another one for myself as this one is a gave away gift.

For the first time, I planned the filler (free-motion). I thought it would be tedious and boring, but it's wasn't and enjoyed the drawing process. I learned that if you brain-hand can't coordianted the pattern on paper, it won't be easier at the machine. I brainstormed, ideas using different books and internet resources available.

In each of the nine squares I'm quilting a maple leaf, putting a bit of Canadian heritage into my quilt.

Braking the queen size quilt into six quadrants helped to focus on a specific area. As you see, I drawed a bit to visualize the effect of the fillers.

I set one table beside and behind my sewing table to help with the weight of the quilt. Also I used the Supreme Slider, Machinegers gloves, and inserted inside the bobin plate a Little Magic Bobbin Genies. Everything combined together helped for sure, but with a queen size quilt, there is always a bit of a pull when I sewed toward the right.

Every squares and rectangle are individually free-motioned. Interesting enough, the pattern doesn't show much on the quilt, except maybe on the light solid blue fabric.