You Can Machine Quilt! - Class #3

The students in my machine quilting class at Taylor Sewing Centre are moving right along and learning lots! The more practice they have the better they are getting at the quilting motifs that we are learning. Today is day 3 and we will be doing some snowflakes, swirls and water ripples. Maybe we'll try some echo quilting today too.

Trying to do homework

It's hard to do homework when you have a little helper like this:

My box of threads has finally arrived!!

Only a quilter or fibre artist would get this excited over a box of thread!! I went online to the Valdani website to place my order of embroidery floss to make up kits for the CreativFestival when I found that they were having a SUPER GREAT sale on their large cones (3000m) of hand overdyed variegated machine quilting thread. I was never that excited about thread, but now that I have my new machine, I have become addicted to threads (to go along with all of my other fibre addictions - fabric, wool, yarn, embroidery floss - oh boy). So when I saw this great sale I decided to order one of every colour. And today the (very heavy) box arrived!!! I'll never have to buy thread again for the rest of my life. Now I just have to figure out how to store them!

All the little balls of embroidery floss for my kits - the ones in the centre are the NEW colours that I didn't have yet in my stash.

Donna's Chernobyl Quilts

Each year our little town of Brockville sends a delegation to Belarus to take donations of food, clothing, toys, medical supplies and whatever else is needed (even a fire truck one year) to the area of Chernobyl that was so horribly affected by the nuclear accident that happened there. Our Quilt Guild has been very active in helping Canadian Aid for Chernobyl by sending hundreds of quilts to be given to the children of the orphanages there. Donna Taylor made these two quilts to send with the next shipment and asked if I would like to practice by quilting them. They weren't very big, so they didn't take too long to quilt. On one I did a star/vine design and on the second I decided to hook up the laser pointer that came with my machine, so that I could try using one of the pantograph designs I got off the Internet. It worked well, once I got the hang of it. Next time I will know that I need to tape or pin down the paper BEFORE I use it as the design - the sewing machine vibrates a bit and causes the paper to SHIFT. Oh well, live and learn.

You Can Machine Quilt! - Class #2

Today is day #2 for my machine quilting class at Taylor Sewing Centre. Hopefully my students have been practicing over the last 2 weeks, because today we are moving on to heart vines, stars and rectangles!

More new patterns

Here are the other two patterns I have designed for the CreativFestival in Toronto (October 17-19). I have decided to make each of them into pillows and will include the directions for doing that in each of the patterns.

"Heirloom Blooms"

"Christmas Goose"

New Punchneedle Pattern

I decided a few months ago that I wanted to design a few new patterns to take with me to the CreativFestival in Toronto. I wanted to do them all using only Valdani Three-strand floss so that I could make up kits to sell. I will be doing punchneedle demos in our booth, so I have purchased lots of Cameo Punchneedles and Morgan No-Slip hoops to sell as well. here is a sneak preview of my first new pattern - "Flying Santa". Now to write the pattern and order the floss!

Elizabethann's Quilt

Shortly after I posted on this blog that I had quilted one of Donna Taylor's quilts for her, Elizabethann VanHelden came into the drug store to ask if I would be interested in doing a twin size quilt that she had made fro her father who is in a nursing home. Although I was a bit nervous I said OK. Last Thursday I brought it to our guild meeting to give it back to her - she says that she is a satisfied customer and will have more business for me!! Since then I have had other members of our guild ask if I would be able to do their quilts and I have said yes, but I'm only going to commit to a few to get started as I have lots of other things I need to focus on this fall - I guess I have a little sideline for my pattern business now!

Elizabethann's quilt was made with an assortment of Japanese fabrics and was fun to quilt.

I did an all-over flower design with echo quilting - it turned out quite nice.