LOL

Chris' block for Amy

Hi girls,
I've finally gotten around to posting my love block. Been busy knitting... as we settle into winter here, Down Under!! I enjoyed a true sense of freedom as I snipped, sewed and added pieces of fabric to create this one. I think free-form quilting and I could become good friends. Can't wait to see your finished quilt Amy. Good luck!

More Love

I noticed this poster around our town this week.  It is encouraging everyone to wear a cycle helmet when they ride their bikes (or 'velo' in French).  I like the way the poster plays with the words 'love' and 'velo' and it made me realise that Amy is making a bi-lingual quilt. Will the quilt say 'love, love, love' or 'velo, velo, velo'?

Linsay.

Genevieve's Block for Amy

All the Waterloo area quilters had a lot of fun last week creating our blocks (or at least choosing the fabrics!).  We all me up at my place last Wednesday evening.  Even Amy came, even though she was leaving for a long car ride that evening.  It was so nice to get together with everyone and see what colour combinations people decided on.
Here is my LOVE square.  This will definitely be one bright, cheery quilt. :)

Happy Quilting Everyone! :)

Genevieve

Hayley's Block For Amy

I just realized that Amy just might get my block before I actually remember to post about it!

I had a lot of fun making this block as it really tested my wonky ability. However, it didn't come together quite as easily as I thought it was going to. On my first attempt I just grabbed pieces from here and there and sewing them together following the great tutorial getting a wee bit cocky thought I could rock this block out in one sitting, no errors, no thinking. Let’s just say it didn’t turn out the way that I wanted it to. So I went back and ripped everything a part. For the most part it just needed some tweaking here and there and then it really started to come together. I couldn’t for the life of me the V to work out so in the end I think it looks like a backwards Y. So we will just say that is the part that makes my block really wonky J

I really do LOVE this block! I think I just might have to make one like this for myself.

Okay off to get my block ready for July! I know what I would like you all to make for me, but I am stuck on colours. Do I want all the blocks the same colours or different colours...hmmmmmm!

School Quilts

Hooray! This week Meg and I both finished our quilts for our school's 50th Anniversary. Tickets are being sold to raffle them off on the last day of school. The money will go towards an art project to reflect the 50th Anniversary. This is the fifth year we have worked on raffle quilts and the students still love it. They are so excited to see who will win!

Do you remember the blog post from a few months ago showing the students designing their blocks?

Here are the finished versions:

The birthday quilt...

...and the beach party quilt.

Meg and I also worked on a quilt with just a few students to hang "forever" alongside a quilt that was made for the 25th Anniversary of the school:

See the cute Swiss cow details:

The 25th Anniversary Quilt...there were no markings of who made it. My mom is always saying, "Label your quilts!" this is why!

Both quilts hanging together in an upstairs foyer of the primary section of the school.

I just wanted to share another photo of a quilt that was made 10 years ago for International Day. The students painted the blocks and my mom sewed them together. This quilt is tied. On one of her visits my mom spent days and many many hours tying all of those hundreds of knots!!

With Meg leaving this year I think I am all "quilted out" with quilts for school.  

I think we need to begin a new decorating tradition at the school!

Have a good day everyone!

Jennifer

Loving the Love block!

Amy! I did it...I managed to squeeze in the block this weekend, because the next one is full already... I guess this one was full too. I tried to make it wonky and even used some of your fabric stash that I picked up at Genevieve's...I love that aquamarine blue on navy combination. I will pop it by soon...let me know when you're back from Montreal!

My love block photo was just taken outside on a very grey and muggy southwestern Ontario day...that is my perennial bed and you can just see the tips of the last few rhubarb stalks...any day now, they will wilt and the raspberries will turn red. Today, it rained on my laundry twice, and the laundry never really managed to shed its wet, so I just popped it into the dryer...but I did manage to sneak this photo in before the next downpour.

I have also started to work up my own February "International Stashes" colour block quilt. I decided I needed 5 more colour blocks to make it big enough for a queen-size quilt, sooo...I'm busy making some more, and then...and then...and then... It will be a busy summer of sewing!

Love to all of you...this is a wonderful way to bend the brain, ignite the creativity, and feel connected to more than those with whom I share my day-to-day. I love the feeling that our network extends across the globe... and I hope we continue this on as a tradition year to year. Can't wait to see what July has in store.

Love is in the air

This block is trickier than it looks.  My first 'E' was so narrow that I had to start it all over again.  I am very happy with the final result and the completed quilt is going to be very bright and uplifting. In my photo the 'O' looks blue but it is purple.

I was having my lunch to day and reading the paper and I noticed that the date was the 17th June and I thought to myself, why do I know that date?...someone's birthday?... no! it's our wedding anniversary.  17 years of marriage (and seven years going out together before that).    Calum was out hillwalking, Arabella is on a mountain hike with school and Flora is off cycling with her friend so I had no-one to share the news with.  Calum is home now so we have decided to go out for dinner next Saturday evening to celebrate.

So, on the theme of love I have taken some photos of the the things I love in my garden.  There is the beautiful vine which grows up the front of our house, the lavender under the cherry tree, the pink roses on the driveway, and of course, my husband Calum.

           

More than just a pillowcase

This is a pillow cover I made for my dearest friend. But it represents way more than just another finish off my list or another pillowcase. I am immeasurably proud of this pillow cover. Three and a half years ago when I started quilting I saw a quilt done in this pattern. I loved it, but wrote it off as one I would never be able to do-too difficult, too many curves. I have looked at the pattern now and again and felt the same sense of dread at those darn curves.  But a few months back, my dear friend found a new quilted bedspread she loved in similar tones. It didn't come with a pillow cover and she asked if I would consider making one to match. Little did she know the fear I felt when I said yes! We found fabric to complement the quilt. I took some measurements....and then it sat. I had the fabric in plain view in my sewing room hoping for inspiration.

Now, Shauna this is where your circles come in.....I spent all of May scared of sewing circles, only to find that once I started them, I enjoyed them! This gave me the push I needed to work on the pillow cover. I found a template for the petals. I sat down with graph paper and drew up the pattern and then I started cutting, sewing and ironing.

And now I have a completed pillow cover. Most importantly, I have the sense that I can take on anything I see quilty-wise. I have conquered my fear of curves. I designed a pattern that worked and actually fits the intended pillow. So now I am feeling pretty proud of myself! And I am grateful that I can share this here with you ladies because I know that you will understand! Now to conquer that fear of applique.... :) 

Katy's May Blocks for Shauna...a little later

I started working on these blocks for Shauna almost a month ago, when we got together on our local stash night to pick out our block colours, share our greys, and review the 'how to'... and I think I'm the last in the bunch to post!! Just in time for June to roll in.

Shauna and I have been friends since highschool! Our friendship dates back twenty years...gulp. I first met Shauna in choir, and then student council, and through highschool our friendship cemented. We come in and out of our lives but always pick up right where we left off. We are canoe tripping buddies, we had our babies at roughly the same time, we live about 20 minutes apart, but we have had a hard time fitting 'friendship time' in over the years. Until now! The quilting group has been the perfect way to find a bit of time every month to discuss something we both have a big passion for - art, creativity, inspiration, fabric, and treasure hunting. I think of our friendship in the same way I think of sewing or quilting. It absorbs the details of our lives, it is flexible to the changing pressures we have, and it is an outlet and a source of inspiration for me,  mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

May took me over in a whoomp. It was busy, tiring, and a bit all-consuming. So I finally sat down last night after a mostly yucky week to finish these blocks for Shauna. And I was on such a role I made an extra set in green. Shauna, you can pick and choose which ones you want to keep. I really think of you in greens, and I think you think of me in blues, so there are eight instead of four for you this month.

I did take inspiration from Shauna for my background greys. One piece I acquired on our local quilt night, either from Amy or Shauna (??)! It has swirlish whisps of smoky grey on a darker grey background. I always think of Shauna when I see swirls, so it fit right in. The other greys are all from recycled men's dress shirts I found at the Goodwill by my office on a short lunchbreak. I also found an old shirt of my dad's in the back of my closet...I've held on to some of his shirts for sentimental reasons, but what a great way to sew his memory into something new.... he felt close when I was working with the fabric last night...

I love this design so much, I think I'm going to make my own quilt with it! I can't wait to see the final product Shauna! I'll bring them by sometime this weekend.