June Block of the Month now available

New Beginnings BOM

Wow - I can't believe that it is going to be June in a couple days and that we're half way through our New Beginnings Block of the Month series!!

I've just added the June Block to Craftsy!! Download it today to make your next block for our quilt.

New Beginnings Block of the Month - June Block

Here is my June block - I think this is one of my favourites so far! 

Batik June block

These fabrics are so beautiful - and the colour combo makes me think of tropical breezes!!

 As always, be sure to upload your finished blocks to Craftsy so that we can enter your name in the draw for a Northcott quilt kit!!! Wouldn't that be a great way to start 2017!!

Northwood Cabin pattern now available on Craftsy

Our newest quilt pattern is called "Northwood Cabin" and it features flannel fabrics from the Northwood line from Northcott.

The line comes in three colorways - Red/Tan as we used in our pattern, Navy/Green and Black/Gray. The blocks for our quit are made using the panel that is shown below. The blocks are big and easy to assemble so the quilt can be made in almost no time at all!!

F21125-12

The pattern for this quilt is now available in quilt shops and as a pattern download on Craftsy! No paying for shipping OR waiting for your purchase to arrive in the mail!

Check it out today!

Learning some new embroidery stitches

Time to take a new class!!

While I was adding our new quilt patterns to Craftsy, I poked around to see what was new and found this awesome class by Sue Spargo:

Embroidering Texture & Dimension by Hand

I've really enjoyed learning some new embroidery stitches and have used many of them to finish up some of my UFOs. Check out my blog post from January in which I show off some of my embroidery pieces. But Sue Spargo's embroidery is OFF THE CHART and I think this would be an awesome class to take this summer!!

It looks like over 5000 people have already signed up for the class - isn't that amazing!!

 And right now it is 50% off - Anyone want to join me??

Modern Vibe now available on Craftsy!!

Nellie and I have been super busy for the last few months designing and writing patterns for Northcott. We have finally finished writing the pattern for our Modern Vibe quilt which went to Fall Quilt Market in October.  We've also redesigned our pattern cover - here is the new look for Upper Canada Quiltworks!!

I blogged about machine quilting this sample back in October and I still love this quilt. The fabrics are available in quilt shops now and the pattern should be arriving shortly.

You can also check out Craftsy to see our downloadable e-pattern.

Modern Vibe

Another sample from our book "Celebrate Canada"

Nellie and I have been working hard to get all of the samples from our quilt finished so that they can travel to Quilt Canada in June!! Karen from "Quilt Thyme" quilt shop in Kingston, Ontario will be displaying them in her booth in the merchants mall AND for a couple of the days Nellie and I will be in her booth signing copies of our book "Celebrate Canada"

So Nellie's "Coast to Coast" quilt was the next one to be quilted and after doing all of those maple leaves on my quilt, I was feeling quite confident that I could do some on hers as well. I got it loaded onto the frame and then got to work.

For the first few maple leaves that I quilted I used my laser pointer and followed a design on paper. I added some swirls and loops in between the leaves and after awhile I didn't need to follow the paper design at all!!

For the center of the quilt I thought it would be fun to do a spiral design over all of the blocks. It turned out quite nice!

In the two inner borders I did my favourite loop-de-loop design and the side-to-side swirl.

Here it is - all quilted and ready for binding!! We just LOVE these Oh Canada fabrics from Northcott!! 

Making a table runner from left over layer cake pieces

52 Week UFO Challenge - Project #25 - "It's Been A Slice" leftovers

The layer cake that I had used for my "It's Been a Slice" quilt pattern had 42 - 10" squares BUT my pattern only uses 40. As a result I had the equivalent of two 10" squares (and some pieces of sashing and outer border) left over. Since they all coordinated I didn't want to throw them out.

Left over pieces from my "It's Been a Slice" quilt

I decided to sew the triangles together along the LONG sides and then used my Quilt In A Day Square up Ruler  to make half  square triangle blocks. I'm not big on specialized rulers but I LOVE using this one to make half-square triangle blocks. You can use odd sized pieces of fabric, sew them together with a straight line and then use this ruler to cut them into an accurate block. 

The ruler in action

My half square triangle blocks

I sewed the little blocks together to make two larger blocks, then added sashing and a 3" outside border. This ended up being the perfect size for a table runner.

I used a meander stitch to machine quilt the blocks, a back and forth design on the inner border and then a swirl design for the outside border. A little navy blue binding finished it right off!!

This little table runner turned out so cute and was really easy to make! Now maybe you too can try making a table runner from left over layer cake pieces or ANY little leftover pieces of fabric that you have from another project. Get one of the Quilt In A Day Square up Rulers and you'll be making half square triangle blocks from ALL of your leftovers!!  

The finished table runner

Felted Wool iPad tote

52 Week UFO Challenge - Project #24 - stitching sample made into an iPad tote

This little stitching sample has been sitting in my sewing room for almost two years!! I just wasn't sure what to use it for, but then I got inspired!! Why not attach it to larger felted wool pieces and make it into a tote bag?

The edges weren't even, so the first thing I did was to trim all four edges even with the outside border stitching.

Next I found some royal blue felted wool (which was once a wool coat that I scored at Goodwill) and I cut two rectangles that would be big enough to house my iPad. I machine stitched my embroidery sample to one of these pieces. And then turned over the top edge of each piece and machine top stitched each of them. This gave the open edges a nice finish.

Next, I auditioned different straps. I had a few different ones to pick from but decided on the cream coloured heavy cord.

To attach the cording to the bag I cut a small piece of wool and sewed this, with the end of the cord tucked inside, to the top edge of the back of the bag. By sewing all around the edges of this piece of wool mu cording was secured to the bag and the end wouldn't unravel.

The next step was to sew the front and the back of the bag together. I just topstitched along the sides and bottom and - VOILÀ - the felted wool iPad tote bag was done. Now I can carry my iPad in style - or - use it for a gift for a friend!

The completed iPad tote with the embroidery  front.

It's Been a Slice - Layer Cake Quilt

On Thursday I finished teaching my "Sliced Layer Cake" class at Taylor Sewing Centre and I just LOVED how all of my students' projects were coming along. It's so fun to see how my pattern can be made in five other colour schemes!!

Here are some pictures of my students' works in progress:

Assorted sewing themed fabrics cut into 10" squares

Lovely greys and taupes = a present for a grandson

A beautiful batik quilt

Reproduction fabrics

This one is going to be a queen sized quilt when finished

Donna has asked if she could take my sample with her to the Ottawa Quilt Show next weekend, so I have published my directions for the quilt into a pattern - "It's Been a Slice".

I've also just added this pattern to my Craftsy site, so you can check it out there!! ePatterns are so great because you get them immediately AND don't have to pay shipping.

I can't wait to see the finished projects from my students. I hope they send me pictures of their finished "It's Been a Slice" quilts. Seeing the ones they were working on makes me want to start another layer cake quilt!!!

Disappearing Twice Nine Patch Table Runner

52 Week UFO Challenge Project #23 - Disappearing nine patch table runner

I had four blocks left over from my disappearing nine patch quilt so, of course, I saved them and wanted to use them for another project.

Unfortunately, none of the ways I arranged the blocks looked right.

So I decided to cut up each of the blocks to see what I could do with them. I cut the block in half from top to bottom and from side to side.

The block sliced into four sections

Next, I rotated each of the sections and rearranged them until I liked the way the block looked.

Sections rotated and rearranged

I sewed the four blocks together with navy blue sashing strips and then added a blue border. I just LOVE this method of making a complex block from a nine patch block. Making the nine patch disappear TWICE was a great way to make the blocks look different for the table runner.

To quilt the table runner I used an alternating swirl design for the outer border and a meander on all of the blocks. Fast, simple and effective.

Close up of quilting designs

My disappearing twice nine patch table runner is project #23 in my 52 week UFO Challenge. It has been 16 weeks since I started my challenge and I can't believe how many projects I have been able to finish up!!

The finished table runner

May Block of the Month

New Beginnings Block of the Month

Well, it's May Day so I've added the next block in our New Beginnings Bock of the Month to Craftsy!!

Our May block uses only three fabrics so I picked a cream with a water ripple for Fabric #1, an orange flower print for Fabric #2 and a black flower print for Fabric #3.

I used my cardboard markers to keep track of the fabrics as I cut the pieces for the block.

Here's my finished May block. My Block of the Month quilt is starting to take shape!! Don't forget to add pictures of your finished blocks to Craftsy for a chance to win our grand prize in January!!

For more information about our New Beginnings Block of the Month, download the BOM General Directions PDF from Craftsy. It is a free download!!