My Precious - An All Voile Quilt

Precious

105'' x 90''

The all voile quilt is finished. When I was thinking of a name for this quilt I kept thinking about how much I did, and still like to, pet this quilt. It is ridiculously soft and I am ultra protective of it. It reminded me of Gollum in Lord of the Rings and his precious crouching over the ring. So this quilt is my Precious.

I used voile for all the triangles. A collection that took me at least a year to amass, as the fabric companies started releasing a print or two along with regular quilting cotton collections. They keep doing that too. After I finished the quilt top I gave away all my scraps. With this finished quilt wrapped around me at night I want to collect them all over again!

Voile is also what is all over the back too. Not to mention the binding. Did I mention how soft this quilt is?

The batting is the same batting I always use - Quilters Dream 100% cotton, in the Select weight. I thought about using a lighter weight batting, to make the quilt even softer. In the end, however, I couldn't find it locally. With the voile you wouldn't think it was the same weight of batting though. It feels very light and so drapey. I can only imagine how much lighter it would have been, but I am not complaining at all.

This is going to be the perfect summer quilt, for those 2 really hot nights we get.



Not having the desire to quilt another king size quilt I happily gave this to Andrea at Urban Quiltworks. She was awesome about accepting the challenge of the voile, calling on her long arm community for advice and tips. We decided on a pantograph because with so many busy fabrics and such a simple construction there was no reason to spend a lot of effort on detailed quilting that wouldn't be seen. She picked this loopy design that reminds me of Fleur De Lis a little. In a turquoise Konfetti thread from Wonderfil it is perfect.

As I said, the binding is also voile, this ric rac print from Anna Maria Horner was perfect. Initially I thought about putting it on the bias, thinking it would look great and be a bit stronger. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough yardage to make that effective. I can always replace the binding if it wears out. For now, it is perfection.

The quilt is already living on our bed. It is so, so girly but my husband isn't saying a word.

I may or may not be collecting voile again to make another all voile quilt. It is just too soft not to. And with less flowery options coming out all the time... And with clothing making scraps finding their way into the collection... This spells trouble, precious and soft trouble.

Sarcasm and Orange

We are a sarcastic household. So much so that The Monster's third grade teacher has made a point to comment that most kids don't fully appreciate sarcasm until they are closer to twelve. Not our kids. (She was fully getting it when she was 3.) So when my husband constantly tells the kids "Orange is for nerds!" whenever they wear orange they all know that he is being a smart@ss, not serious. Especially when he says it wearing his own orange jacket.

Not surprisingly, my son's favourite colour is now orange.

After cleaning up my studio this week I set about to sorting out some storage. One of the bins I opened contained a few of these blocks - samples for the Scrapper's Delight class I sometimes teach. With our family conversations and my boy's recent birthday I felt totally inspired to combine everything into one bright quilt for him. I added more fabrics from my stash and the scrap bins to compliment the first few blocks. Each block is currently squared up to 12.5'' x 12.5'', just like the original pattern.

How fun is this quilt? I am having fun making more blocks. That's a good thing, because to get this up to bed size I need to make 49 of these in total. But the blocks are super easy and a great way to unwind at the end of the night.

Vintage Treats for Sale

A few years ago I was gifted with a random box of sewing things. Our of it came a wonderful quilt - well, a top that I finished and gave back to the original owner of the box. Otherwise, the contents of the box sat in my sewing room. Once I took out a zipper but that's it. It's time to move on. There are absolutely wonderful little treasures in the box, but they need to go to a more interested home.

Check out my Etsy shop for a complete listing of items for sale from the box. Listings include vintage quilting fabric scraps, dress making scraps, notions, patterns, and clothing. A few items of clothing are finished, most are not. The unfinished ones generally need waistbands or closures only. And the collection of materials in incredible.

I'll admit, I was tempted to keep some of the clothing and use them for fabric, but I just couldn't do it. So much work had already gone into them that I couldn't bear to cut them up. But if you want to after purchasing then go for it!

After shipping and handling I will be donating 50% of the proceeds to Little Warriors. My neighbours that passed on the box were supporters of that charity so it seemed appropriate.

Speaking of shipping. I know it is expensive. Thank you Canada Post. If you buy multiple items I will adjust shipping based on real cost after purchase (issuing refunds, if necessary). And if you are local and want to pick up, then there will be no shipping!

Now, just a tease of what is available for purchase in the shop.

Round and Round Update

It felt like months since I did any improv. In truth, it was only a few weeks, but it felt like months. After following clothing patterns and drafting quilt patterns my improv muscles were twitching. Not to mention I was having a pretty crappy day. So I cracked an afternoon beer and dove into my scraps.

Seeing as these blocks are 16.5'' x 16.5'' and my scrap strips are anywhere from 1''-4'' wide, it takes a bit of time to get a block done. But in less than 2 hours yesterday I had 3 more blocks done. And my mood was infinitely better. (Of course the mood improvement may have also been because of a random text from a friend telling me that she saw alligator road kill in Florida and it made her think of me. Don't ask why, but that made me giggly.)

So now I am up to 16 of these blocks. I could stop now and have a good lap size quilt. I'm going to keep going though. I'm always thinking bed size now for the kids' beds, so I will make 9 more blocks. That will give me an 80'' finished quilt, perfect for their double beds.

And perfect for all mood improvements.

Values Plus Quilt

Values Plus

36'' x 48''

Such a fun little quilt. And the only reason it is little is because Amanda Jean talked me out of going bigger. She was right, especially considering this is a class sample. Let's face it, it is much easier to travel with a smaller quilt.

I did find myself quite addicted to making these little blocks. It was made purely from scrap strips. The only decision I made in making the strip sets was making sure that I had value contrast in the pairs. After that it was anything goes! The real fun in playing with the layout.

In the end I went with this colour focused layout. Four patches where the dark fabric was all the same colour, forming a wonky plus sign. The result is bold, colourful, and far more organized. Because the blocks are small (3 1/2'' square) finding order was important. It also makes the value contrasts pop a lot more.

This quilt is a sample for an updated Values class. We've all seen - to great effect - the values quilts based on half square triangles. For this I wanted to play with a different shape and show what can happen when the effect is a bit more subtle. Then, how we find order and design in it.

This was the first quilt I quilted using a stitch regulator. Not sure about it yet, it will take some getting used to. But no one is perfect right out of the gate! With all that pattern I went for a simple stipple in Aurifil 2600. You aren't seeing the quilting on a quilt this busy as it is.

I totally lucked out with some leftover binding. There was just enough to get this quilt done. A little bias fun to complete the quilt.

A Year of Talking Quilts - Choosing the Pattern

You sit staring at the pile of fabric you just picked up, the pretty colours swirling in a kaleidoscope in front of you. You love them so much yet you can't move. You are paralyzed with indecision, overwhelmed with options, stuck with opportunity.

You have the inspiration, you have the fabric, now you need the pattern.

There are the times when we know exactly what we want to make, when the quilt pattern dictates the fabric selection. Those times are, admittedly, a bit easier. Picking fabric can still be a challenge, but having a starting point goes a long way to providing the necessary focus to get started.

Then there are the times that you need to start a new quilt or simply want to turn a beautiful stack of fabric into a quilt and you have no idea where to start. What quilt to make? Pinterest boards full of options, a drawer full of patterns, a shelf of books with pages marked all give us great ideas. They don't, however, answer the tough question.

In my early years of quilting the way I looked for a quilt design was by searching for just the right block. For example, because my brother proposed to my SIL on top of the Empire State Building I knew I wanted to make a New York Beauty based quilt as their wedding present. Often I would stroll through the block designs on a site like Quilter's Cache. Then I would make up a bunch of blocks, still not knowing what the final quilt would look like. After some sewing I would try to make it all come together. I could pick a block based on its name or what it looked like and how that referenced the recipient. It was actually a really good step towards design because it allowed for personal creativity while working within the confines of a block pattern.

Now, with so many quilts on the go I am often - if I'm being honest - not stuck for ideas. I generally have a problem NOT starting a new quilt, a new pattern. There comes that time when a baby is being born, a friend is getting married, a book is being written and I need to decide on demand what exactly I am going to make. In those moments I do one of two things, some times both.

1. Ask myself: Am I improvising this one?

You see, if I am going to improvise I might just start with my fabric or my idea and let loose. Bring on the rotary cutter and the neutral thread because I am just going to play until something more concrete forms.

2. Flip through my sketchbooks.

I keep detailed sketchbooks, have done so for years. They are where I capture any and all ideas. Gone are the days of scratching a design on hotel stationary and receipts from my wallet. My sketchbook lives by my side. So when I need to make something new I can pull out the dozen or so stashed on the cutting table in my sewing room, make a pot of tea, and flip through the pages until an old idea seems so RIGHT NOW.

Even with all the books on my not quite bookshelf I will often transfer the idea to my sketchbook (with proper sourcing) so that I only have one thing to look through.

One thing I know I do, and I think many others do, is getting hung up on making just the right quilt. We have to tell ourselves though that the recipient, if there is one, is going to love anything we make; that the symbolism we are assigning to our choices is 80% of the time only visible to us, the maker. And if they do get the symbolism they don't need the explanation and it doesn't have to be evident in every single step of the quilt making.

 (Photo by Kate Inglis for You Inspire Me to Quilt, C&T Publishing 2015)

When there is no recipient and we are making for the sake of making then I firmly believe we should try the first idea we had. Our instincts are usually correct, for one. Just like when you go to a restaurant and talk yourself out of the pasta you really want but think you should try their signature chicken dish, then are sorely disappointed. Not because the dish is bad, but because it wasn't the pasta.

And two, no one says you have to make the whole quilt. Just try out a few blocks, or put some of the fabrics together in sewn form to make sure they work. Try, play, experiment. You can always change your mind. Just because you start the quilt, doesn't mean it has to become a quilt.

There are so many choices to make in quilt making and picking the quilt to make is the most challenging. But it is also the most exciting. We need to keep ourselves from getting overwhelmed by the choice. Keep a running selection. Or don't. My friend Rossie, for example, doesn't keep a sketchbook because she says the good ideas will surface when they need to. Also, we all need to accept that we will never make all the ideas we have, there are not enough years in our lives and there are lives that need to be lived, so we should make the quilts that get us the most excited at that moment.

This is the third post in a year long series on all the steps of making a quilt. Musings and thoughts on the process.

2015 Goals - 1Q Check-In

I promised myself (and you, dear readers) a quarterly update on my goals. As I've spent the last two weeks evaluating some opportunities, cleaning up after a rush of work, and reconnecting with my family, this review is timely.

1. Start, and possibly complete, the next two quilts in my Alberta series.

Other than a sketch and some dreaming, nothing has happened here. It is a creative challenge that requires some attention, something I haven't had much of lately. 

2. Record at least 1 new online class or set of classes.

This goal might have been a bit of a cheat because I already knew I was going to be filming my CreativeLive classes. We'll chalk this one up to putting something on the list because you already know you can cross it off.

That being said, I think I might like to do one more this year.

3. Launch 2 more print patterns.

The final design for the Sewing Machine Quilt is being finished. I'm so close with this one. And I've started the quilt I hope to be another print pattern. 

To be honest, I'm still not sure this is a good direction for me, but I'm experimenting and we'll see the response.

4. Attend 1-2 quilting retreats as a guest and not a teacher.

Really hoping the budget allows for this, but I would also like a new bathroom.

5. Pick up 3 new freelance clients.

With the shut down of Quilty I lost a freelance client. I am writing for Cake and Whiskey's new blog, Sip and Slice though. 

Right now I am evaluating whether I want to pursue this more or just keep the clients I have and serve them even better.

6. Celebrate the launch of You Inspire Me to Quilt, because I never did that for A Month of Sundays and I missed that.

Still planning on this one. My advance copy is due to arrive this week but the launch of the book itself may be delayed due to labour issues at the ports where the book will arrive from printing.

7. Explore print and pattern making through regular sketching, play, and learning design programs.

I just started watching the Creative Bug class on fabric design. And I picked up a print making kit. If I can get my family on board, I'm hoping to take a class at the local art school to pick up some computer design skills.

8. Lose 20 pounds. Actually, closer to 25 if we count the holiday weight. I lost 20 pounds last year and want to continue on the road to health.

Up and down, up and down. I went off sugar for a couple of weeks - yay! I went to QuiltCon and drank my weight in bourbon - yay! Then there was the moment a few weeks back when I tried to make a 3 pointer at the basketball court. Nothing but... air. I am weak. So not only do I need to cut back on the sugar to get towards this goal, I need to get some good exercise in. And this week I started just that. This goal is moving up the priority list right now.

9. Find an agent/publisher for the children's books I wrote.

Nope, nothing to see here yet.

10, Spend at least 1-2 hours a week working on one, any one, of the outstanding Quilts Under Construction. Focused, steady progress should move some of those through the list, even when I'm starting new quilts all the time.

It hasn't happened every week, but it is happening. And the new quilts I've started have either been finished (because they were for publication) or they are for classes and have no immediate deadline. I'm happy with the focus keeping this list provides. I updated the list last week. The number is still up there (43) but I see progress. I also see where I might need to just let some things go. And finally, where I need to focus my efforts to move things along even more. First step, don't start any new quilts for a bit.

This pause and reflection on where I've worked in the past three months is quite useful. I need to ask myself, right now, if the direction I'm going is actually where I want to be. And will these goals get me there. I've always felt like I had a good end result in mind, but some good conversations with my husband has me asking questions. Honestly, I don't know all the questions and I certainly don't know the answers, but my brain and heart are working overtime trying to sort it out. Seeing these goals and my activity provides some focus to those efforts.

Playing With Pinwheels in Quilting - On CreativeLive

When was the last time you played? I don't mean get on the floor and play with the kids or grandkids? I don't mean kicking around the soccer ball either. No, I mean going into your fabric and making something for fun; quilting without a quilt a mind?

I'm going to venture a guess that it hasn't been lately. For all the things I start - and I do start a lot - they almost always are started with a finished quilt in mind. I'm not sewing for the sake of sewing. I don't experiment or play much. And this is so, so wrong.

That's because we learn so much when we play. Taking away the play instinct for a child isn't a good thing, we can all agree on that. So why do we think it is okay to do that for ourselves? By playing as quilters we get the chance to explore colour, construction techniques, shapes, lines, negative space, secondary designs, and our own challenges and joys. Instead of trying a new quilt pattern to experiment with just one or two of those things, just play. See what happens when you let go of the idea that everything has to be a quilt.

It is the move past this idea that everything has to be something that has to be tackled first. In this CreativeLive class, Playing with Pinwheels in Quilting, I want to help you do just that. We take a simple, common block - the Pinwheel - and turn it into so many different things. There is one basic way to do it, and then a million other ways. While I preparing for the class I had a hard time stopping. One idea begets another and another. Even while teaching the class on set I had even more ideas. 

Guess what? Playing is FUN!

Now I feel like I could take so many of the ideas from the class and turn them into quilts of their own. The blocks I made may or may not turn into a quilt as they are. I, frankly, don't care. They represent my own little quilty playground. Not to mention design opportunity. For now, they are on my design wall to remind me that play is fun, that exploring an idea or a shape is worthwhile, and that sometimes things are simply pretty.

If you have any questions about the CreativeLive class, don't hesitate to ask. And all feedback is welcome. They are new with quilting classes and constructive comments can only help. Did you know there are free previews of all the classes? 

Playing with Pinwheels for Quilters

Improv Quilting Basics

Quilting with Low Volume Fabrics

Translating Inspiration in Quilting

You can also share reviews and your inspired work with the CreativeLive community. I keep up with the course pages, so please share your work (in addition to blogs and social media if you are active there).

Quilts Under Construction - 1Q 2015

In the interest of staying on top of things, not to mention full disclosure, here is the current status of Quilts Under Construction in my studio. Except when deadlines take over, I think I'm doing well at tackling at least one of these projects once a week.

As I wrote the list I got excited and thought I'd made all sorts of progress as the numbers seemed lower. Then I got to the part where I added the projects I started. Oh well. I'm still happy! And, let's not forget my new obsession with garment sewing taking away some quilting time.

Quilt Tops Ready for Quilting

1. Cosmos Blocks
2. Improv Sampler
3. Checkerboard from Sunday Morning Quilts
4. Slaveship Quilt  - I did buy some Valdani thread for some hand quilting on this and nearly started after watching the Book of Negroes miniseries.
5. The Evil Genius' Triangle Quilt - now that she has her own bed she wants this finished. But it is isn't big enough for her double bed. So she's picked out side borders and I just need to sew them on.
6. A low volume rainbow mini quilt that I've never shared with you.
7. Giant Hexagons - I did actually come with a plan for quilting this the other day and now I'm excited to move forward.
8. One red/purple turquoise quilt intended for magazine publication
9. Cirrus Solids Pinwheel top
10. Solid Sunday Morning - I even have the back made already. Will be doing this one very soon.

Quilts Being Quilted

11. Low Volume Circles - I took this out and looked at it once.
12. Antonio's Quilt - Still waiting for me to come back to this.

Waiting for Binding

13. All voile quilt - just have the last side of the binding to finish, so I'm counting it here. Then I will photograph and share. So close to being done.

Blocks and Process

14. Mid Mod Bee - This is moving up the list in my head. Some setting ideas are percolating...
15. Hand Pieced Diamonds - I found the first section I made, it had gone missing/got buried in the studio.
16. More Cosmic Burst blocks
17. Name quilt for my daughter
18. Chandelier quilt
19. Liberty Circles - I actually finished all the circles for this, playing with my new machine. If I could decide on a background fabric I would finish this top up.
20. Respite - a project started in a Bill Kerr design workshop
21. Pieced Stars
22. The Water Quilt
23. Low Volume Shoeman's Puzzle/Slab blocks - I made more blocks and plan to make at least another 21 more.
24. A values quilt in neutrals - After teaching this again at QuiltCon I have no more classes scheduled in the next few months. I've kept this out to try to get a new top together.
25. Green/Yellow/Orange Improv blocks (Class sample, so I keep adding more blocks each time I teach the class) - My son's favourite colour is orange these days and his room is painted green, so these blocks are sitting at the front of my brain lately.
26. Edges/Studio Stash Play
27. Beach Grass Take 2
28. Y2K quilt - About 12 rows made. Of 50.
29. Another leaders and enders project, intended to be like Up, Up, and Away from Sunday Morning Quilts
30. Round and Round blocks - Up to 13 of these now.
31. Snippets on Dates - Just pressed another round of these. I'm curious as to how big things would be if I spent a few hours getting them all together.
32. Circle Lattice - Finished two blocks now, and started the third.
33. Leftovers from Modern Paris - These may come into play soon as the couple I made the quilt for are now expecting a baby.
34. Orange Circles from Craftsy/Perfect Circles class samples - I think these will stay class samples. Or not.
35. Gee's Bend inspired blocks after my trip to Alabama - I made up the small blocks into 1 large block, but now I think it needs more.
36. Paperless paper piecing block from my class with Cristy Flincher. I think it needs to be the start of a medallion quilt.
37. The girls' clothes turned into a quilt with the Gee's Bend quilters.
38. A Victory Spin quilt in progress for a baby that is already a few months old!
39. Improv work with Cotton and Steel Fabrics that I started for my CreativeLive Improv Quilting Basics class.
40. Blue Improv - pulled out some class sample I've used over the years and played with them for CreativeLive Improv Quilting Basics. Now I think I have a plan for them.
41. The X-Plus blocks I used in the Creative Live Quilting with Low Volume Fabrics class.
42. A stack of Doe from Carolyn Friedlander and some precious screen prints from all over to play with.
43. A whole bunch of pinwheels that I'm playing with. Started as prep for my CreativeLive Pinwheel Play class.

Finished or Moved out of the studio

Donated an Amy Butler store sample I bought years ago and never quilted.

Values Plus - This is finished, but I've yet to photograph and share it here.

Alturas
QuiltCon Quilt
Two magazine projects I can't share yet. Plus another one that is almost the same as the magazine project.
Caterpillar - technically finished this in 2014, but I hadn't shared it yet.
Ride the Waves -  technically finished this in 2014, but I hadn't shared it yet.

Two Linden sweatshirts and a dress.

The Third Circle Lattice block

And another Circle Lattice block. Just can't get enough. Once you make two, you might as well make four, right? That is my plan, at least.

It took me longer than I would have liked to finish up the second one, only because there were a lot of quilts to bind. That took up a lot of hand work time and nearly killed my wrist. The longer time, however, doesn't bother me. That is indeed the point - to slow down (and savour each stitch).

This time I switched up the fabric. I still totally love the New York City fabric from Samarra Khaja. Even with all that face time spent with it, I am not at all bored. Lucky for me, I was also able to get more of it. So I have enough for the 4 planned blocks, and then some. This time the great fabric is making the circle lattice instead of being relegated to the background. Instead of unicorns in New York, the city is taking over the forest. Hmm, there is a political message in that...

For those of you new here, the block comes from Carolyn Friedlander's book, Savor Each Stitch. And it has taken me 6 months of hand appliqué here and there to make the 2 blocks so far.

Improv Quilting Basics - On CreativeLive

Oh, Improv!

After years of teaching improv to quilters I know firsthand that it isn't something that comes instinctively or easy to many. I also know that it isn't as difficult as many believe either. It is a technique that can be taught and learned, if you embrace it and not fight it.

My latest CreativeLive class is all about Improv Quilting Basics. I walk you through all the steps from preparing fabric to turning blocks into a quilt top and even quilting tips. So often I see improv discussions that talk about the process, but they never move beyond making a block. There is very little public discussion on how to actually turn those efforts into a quilt. That discussion is precisely the bulk of this class.

Whether you want to go with total improv, are looking for more structure, or just want to play and see what happens, you can get direction for all that from this class.

The studio students worked on two different projects in teams. You will see how they went from a pile of fabric to this small tops/start of big tops in just a few hours. The first group - Karen and Tracey - worked with some neutrals. It was a collection of solids and near solids that I put together with some fabrics from the Calligraphy challenge on Spoonflower, hosted by Uppercase Magazine. (In my head it was called the Ink quilt.) They worked from a pure improv standpoint - they cut up fabric, sewed it back together, then puzzled it to turn it into a quilt top.

Nicki and Michelle worked on a stack of low-volume fabrics (a nice follow-up to the Quilting with Low Volume Fabrics class) with pops of red. The combination was from a student in Inuvik and I'd wanted to see it in action again. In their case they built up their improv blocks and we squared them up. In the class we talk all about the tips and tricks for building improv slabs this way and considerations when putting them together. And look, they've finished what they've started too!

The whole time the students were sewing I was playing myself. You get to see that too. I show yet another way to put a quilt top together and discuss more options. Not to mention a tiny trunk show of some of my favourite improv quilts.

At the end of the day I want my students in Improv Quilting Basics to feel totally comfortable working improvisationally. That means different things to different people. But having improv in your skill set can mean so many things. It doesn't just have to mean that you make slabs or totally improvised quilt tops. It is about embracing a spirit that means you don't freak out when you run out of background fabric, or gives a you language to translate your inspiration. Improv means trusting the process.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I let the studio students keep the work they made. I only asked that when they finished that these quilts be donated to charity.

Solid Sunday Morning Top

The nice thing about so many Quilts Under Construction is that I can work on nearly anything, depending on the mood I'm in. Last week I folded up all the quilts in the house. It made me realize just how many low volume options there are here. It made me want to play on something decidedly NOT low volume. Variety is the spice of life.

Not to mention that I want some quilts on the girls' beds that are not light and show every spec of spring mud and dog hair.

That meant I pulled out my all solids version of Sunday Morning. It was also the kind of mindless sewing I needed after tackling some garment sewing.

One night I made a few more sets of blocks. After counting I realized I was only 5 blocks short of making this a full size quilt. Rather than dig out my old machine for the girls I set them to laying out the quilt. They LOVE this part of the process. After bed I got the last blocks made and started assembly.

While they were at school yesterday I finished the top (and back!). It was a lovely nearly spring day that saw us stay at the park for 2 hours after school. Needless to say, it was perfect for photographing the finished quilt. A handful of kids took a break from their play to help us snap the picture. I love that their friends have a tiny hand in the finished quilt now and they got to show it off for them. (Although we couldn't necessarily remember who made what block.)

Working with solids is a challenge, for sure, for me. I adore prints. It is also, however, a welcome break. Exercising my visual cortex in a new way was like trying a new workout or different dish at your favourite Italian place. It's good to break out of the norm once in a while.

I am ever thankful for my Calgary Modern Quilt Guild friends for donating scraps to this project. There is no way I could have collected that variety of solid fabrics. There was no rhyme or reason to the colours chosen or the order they were sewn together. Just grab and sew kind of piecing. I did slow down and become intentional with layout. After the girls did their thing we moved a few things around together, but then I just made sure there were no bars of the same colour next to each other or all the whites or blacks bunched together. I needed to make sure it had a bit of balance.

Now, let's see if I can get them to help we wash the dining room floor so we can baste it together this weekend...

Translating Inspiration in Quilting - on CreativeLive

Oh, the elusive inspiration. Or the overwhelming inspiration.

As quilters there is inspiration everywhere - other people's quilts, fabric stacks, a pattern jacket, books, and even the buildings, flowers, and colours around us. It is one thing to see and feel all this inspiration, it is quite another to turn it into a quilt.

As a teacher and long term quilter (coming up on 17 years now) the way to turn inspiration into a quilt is a frequently asked question. It can't, however, be answered in a FAQ section on the blog. It can be taught. Rather, the tools and steps it takes to turn inspiration into a quilt can be taught. That is precisely the point of this class on CreativeLive.

If you've taken a webinar with me or a class on intention, this is a more literal interpretation of the process. In this class I break down the steps required to go from idea to quilt. Better yet, there are tonnes of examples - from me and the studio participants. It was great to work with the ladies in the studio with me at play with their ideas. Watching the class, you get to hear and see their thought process. It feels more like a workshop session where we feed off each other as opposed to the teacher at the front of the room.

One of the examples I brought to class was all about a bridge. We have an amazing bridge here in Calgary, called The Peace Bridge. I've loved the lines of it every since it was announced. Not surprisingly, it is often photographed! During the class you can see where my thoughts went and how I played with fabric. You will also see that I never quite landed on what I want. That is totally part of the process though - translating inspiration is an iterative process. So some day soon I will revisit those blocks again and see what it needs to be.

In the meantime, don't hesitate to check out the free preview of the class on CreativeLive. This is such a treat, to see exactly what you are signing up for in this detailed first lesson. 

And speaking of bridges... Random aside from my trip to San Francisco to film the class. Totally cliche, but I walked the Golden Gate Bridge and it was really cool. Even when I got caught in a windy downpour just as I hit the other side.

Knits, the Linden Sweatshirt and Thoughts from a Beginner Sewer

If you've read this blog for a while you will remember that I've said many times before that I don't sew clothes. I'm a quilter, not a sewer.

I stand corrected.

Behold my first sweatshirt. When I told my SIL that I was sewing a sweatshirt for fun she commented that she hadn't even seen me wear a sweatshirt aside from a hoodie at the campfire. Quite true. But I picked up this dressy one from J Crew last year and fell in love. Then, at QuiltCon, I finally caved on some gorgeous Nani Iro double gauze I've been admiring for a few months online. Those two loves collided when a friend pointed out to me that they just saw a Grainline Studio's Linden sweatshirt in double gauze. Sold!

Not only was I keen to make this sweatshirt, it was actually serving as my reward. Some selfish sewing after basically 2 months straight of work. Something is clearly wrong with me.

Okay, so this pattern is rated for a beginner. While it is true there are not major technical skills required to make this, it certainly reminded me that I am indeed a beginner when it comes to garment sewing. A few Staple dresses does not make a seamstress. The last time I sewed with knits was a pair of sweatpants in junior high Home Ec.

The pattern is pretty straight forward and well illustrated. It provides a few hints and tips on sewing with knits, like what stitches and needles to use. I felt much more prepared, however, after spending some time on line searching out more tips, tricks, and guides for sewing with knits.

There were a lot of little things that flew under the radar. An experienced sewer would probably just chalk them up to common sense, but it was spots that a beginner would perhaps struggle with. For example:

- Knit is stretchy, this works to your advantage when attaching your cuffs and bands, but against you when cutting.
- When attaching the wrist cuffs, take off the table around the throat of your machine, it pretty much made it perfect for attaching the cuffs. If you don't, you are trying to manage all the material, the stretching, and a good seam allowance without catching the other side of the cuff as you sew.
- If the fabric isn't moving for you under the presser foot, you can raise it a bit.
- There are different settings required for your machine, very different ones if you are used to quilting.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out stitches, speeds, and settings on my machine. In fact, the machine was my biggest frustration. Rather, my ability to work it with this material. With the help of a strong Campari and Soda I found the patience and the rhythm required.

It really got me thinking about beginners and the assumptions I make regarding terminology and basic skills. I write patterns and assume a certain level of knowledge. Now I realize I can't write for every audience - if I broke absolutely everything down the more experienced quilter would be driven bonkers by the detail. There is likely more of a middle ground, however. Especially when marketing to beginners. Definitely something to think about.

I love, love, love this sweatshirt. I like the fit on me. I went for a size 16 based on the pattern measurements and adjusted nothing other than the length of the neck band piece. (I found I liked the wide opening and wanted less of a gathered feel, so I added a few inches to the band). The sweatshirt is loose, almost blousy.  The bottom cuff doesn't get tight around my hips, which I prefer to the alternative. If you wanted it tighter you would just have to make the band a bit shorter. The arms are pretty much perfect for me. This will be a good layering piece as we head into spring.

The material is from Birch Organics, the Elk Grove knit line. I picked it up at a local store. Selection was limited locally to a lot of cute little prints, but I don't do cute on my clothes. So ridiculously soft, the flowers were worth it. I was paranoid about stretching it out before I finished sewing so I was super careful, then someone else commented on an Instagram photo that it wasn't very stretchy! Perhaps it was just paranoia on my part?

Now I am very excited to tackle a double gauze version. For that one I am going to lengthen it a bit so it is extra slouchy. I need to pick up a knit or a ribbing for the wrist cuffs and bottom band. Hopefully I can find something that coordinates nicely. I may switch out the neck band for a bias binding, but I haven't decided on that yet.

Look out world, I'm a sewer now.

Quilting With Low Volume Fabrics - on CreativeLive

Let's talk Low-Volume. (You can whisper if you want to, I am.)

Low volume fabrics remain trendy. You see them popping up in fabric collections, shop bundles, and in quilts. When I pitched A Month of Sundays nearly 4 years ago the term and the fabrics were just starting to emerge into quilters' consciousness. Now, you can hardly look anywhere without seeing these gorgeous fabric options.

There are so many people, however, who stop me to ask questions about just how to use them. Some people think low volume can only means black and whites, or only tone on tones, or only colours. Some people only think you can use low volume prints as backgrounds as a completely scrappy look. Some still believe that low volume only means light fabrics or that there is no contrast in a quilt made from low volume fabrics.

In both A Month of Sundays and my CreativeLive class, Quilting With Low Volume Fabrics, you can learn that all of these things are small little pigeonholes in the possibility of using low volume fabrics. By following along we learn that the principles of colour, value, scale, and texture still apply with low volume fabrics. We learn that while there are no wrong ways to use these fabrics, there are better ways to use them in order to enhance your quilt design.

In the class you can also sew along with us. I chose the famous X-Plus block as our exercise. We go through different fabric combinations to illustrate all the lessons of the class. The studio audience is learning right along with you. That means you get their insight and A Ha! moments too. It truly is a learning by doing exercise.

At the end of the class you will be very comfortable using low volume fabrics effectively in your quilts. You really can't go wrong with these fabrics. They are a great alternative to white, cream, or grey backgrounds, but they are so much more. Knowing how to pick and use them means that your options for fabrics opens up tremendously.

This was my goal in A Month of Sundays as well. But for those of you who learn by doing or watching, grab the class. Then you can hit the book for some inspiring quilt designs.

Oh, and all the Craft and Maker classes are on sale at CreativeLive until March 15. That means you can grab any of my classes for just $19.

What I Made At QuiltCon

QuiltCon was an awesome, eye opening, and super friendly experience for me. I think many people feel the same. My classes and students were wonderful. (I can say that Saturday night was a bit of a rough night for a class, everyone was pretty tired.) Thank you to everyone who came to sew, to laugh, to eat my chocolate, use my fabric, and push themselves. You made my experience for sure.

I did, however, get a little bit of time to sew myself. Taking a few classes was a welcome respite in my busy schedule. To be honest, I felt kind of sneaky being in a classroom. Or maybe it was more indulgent? Either way, I'm glad I made some time to do it.

I spent one morning with the Gees Bend quilters. After my time in Alabama in the fall I was eager for the chance to visit and sew more. The entire class was more of some playtime and visiting, punctuated with gospel singing and laughter. There was minimal direction, if any, so it would have been tough if you were totally new to improv play. But the 4 women made sure each student was acknowledged, helped, and guided. My neighbour spent a lot of time with them as they kept making her redo and redo a certain seam of her piece until it was just right. And when we saw the final seam the effort was totally worth it. Improv can be careful and calculating too.

My choice of fabric for the class were some old clothes of the girls. I cut up two pairs of pants, a dress, and a blouse. It was a miss mash of fabrics and textures. But having seen the original Gees Bend quilts it was a good push for me. And wow, was it liberating to cut up old clothes! I decided to go with their influence to the extreme and based my work on the Housetop pattern so many in Gees Bend have used. That block is all of the clothes, with only a few small pieces leftover. I didn't cut away grass stains that never came out of the knees or the tiny mustard spot. Initially I thought I might keep going with the technique and framing it with more neutrals. Now that I'm home, we'll see. Although, I do see that as a fun family marker.

The other class I took, and my first choice going into QuiltCon registration, was Cristy Flincher's Paperless Paper Piecing. I've been fascinated by this process and what she makes. It is so outside of my comfort zone and usual style. Yes, I like precision and do enjoy paper piecing, but this is a refreshing way to approach the style. Not to mention that Cristy is a great teacher. Seriously, she's good.

She gave us the template for the block so we were all working from the same foundation. But there were so many different fabrics at play that each block looked different. It took all day to make the one block, but that had a lot to do with a steep learning curve and not enough irons. (And for me, having to duck out for a book signing.) Now that I know the technique, though, I can see it being a very handy skill. It won't take nearly as long next time. Bonus: Cristy even told me how to add improv to this so my soul was touched a bit more.

I definitely want to make at least 3 more of these blocks for a small medallion.

Announcing My CreativeLive Experience

It's been a few weeks since I filmed my CreativeLive classes. It was such an intense experience prepping and filming. I wanted to deliver classes that you've not seen from me before. Some are an extension of things that I do and have done, but with more details or a different twist. Some are totally brand new. That's what made the prep so much work. Totally worth it though, I think these classes are awesome. If I may say so myself.

If you've ever met me or taken a class from me you know that I can talk. But wow, filling two straight days of airtime was tough. That means you get a lot of stories from me throughout each class, on top of my direction, tips, and lessons.

CreativeLive is a well oiled machine. They know what they are doing in filming and delivering classes. It was quite phenomenal to work with them. Commitment, enthusiasm, and professionalism. From my producers to the camera operators to the assistants who kept me in tea and my voice cracked, everyone was wonderful.

If you've not heard of CreativeLive before I think you will be very pleasantly surprised by what they have to offer. Most of their classes are first broadcast live. And when they are live they are free to watch. You can then purchase from their catalog if you want to hold on to the class. 

And the catalog is filled with some amazing classes. Their Craft and Maker section is growing, but don't hesitate to check out the Photography and Money & Life sections (my favourites) too.

Oh, make-up! I'm a mascara and lip gloss kind of girl, when I do get dressed up. So having my hair and make up did was quite the treat, if not adventure. But I had a great make-up artist who made me look just a little bit more so. Such a simple thing, but it was nice to know I didn't have to worry about my looks when being immortalized like this. Such vanity, but definitely a part of the stress. I won't lie about that. Much thanks to my best friend here at home for helping me pick my outfits.

One of the really fun things about CreativeLive is the studio audience aspect. As a quilt teacher it can be really difficult to teach without the response from students. For my classes I had 4 incredible women join me in the studio. Karen, Michelle, Nicki, and Tracey were all from the Bay Area and took time off work and their family schedules to join me in the studio. I had so much fun with them! Such enthusiasm and they really embraced what I was trying to do both in the studio and for everyone watching at home. 

The other great thing about having an audience is that all the concepts I teach get demonstrated different ways. So it isn't just my work that you see. I really find that we feed off of each other in a classroom environment, so getting to see their work helps everyone who watches.

(And that is Kris with us up there. He was a lovely director!)

Aren't these lovely? Michelle made a crane for each class we filmed. It was such a lovely feature on the set. While I didn't get a chance to take many pictures throughout, I couldn't resist snapping this pic before everything got packed up at the end. A perfect end to our time together. A perfect reminder to let your creativity take flight.

In the coming weeks I will talk more about the classes in detail, but you can still check them out now.

Talking Quilts... Picking Fabric

There was once a girl who only bought fabric as she made a quilt. She only bought the fabric she needed for that particular quilt. I know this to be true because I worked with her for ten years. At first I thought she was kidding. I mean, how is that even possible? But as I watched her make quilts I did not see her stash grow. It was amazing.

I am so not that girl.



Frankly, I was buying fabric at quilts shops long before I even quilted. I could sew and I would buy little fat quarters under the pre tense of making napkins with them. I did, once. They were really, really bad napkins in an odd shape because all I did was turn under the edges to hem the fat quarter. But oh, that fabric!

Fabric is probably the reason 95% of us quilt. Yes, there is the making aspect. But it is the fabric that brought us to our glorious making. And it is the fabric that gets us most excited, provides a level of frustration, and where most of our money gets spent. Fabric is awesome.

Pulling fabric for a new quilt is one of my top treats in the quilt making process. I've been known to pull fabric just because. A little shopping in my stash to create a random pile of fabric itching to become a quilt. Sometimes all its dreams are fulfilled. I find just the right inspiration, block, pattern, or concept and the quilt comes into being. Sometimes the fabric lingers or hovers on the edge of the scene (the closet shelves) slowly being picked through for other projects until I eventually return all the pieces to their rightful colour stacks.

Having a large stash makes this all possible. Never will I add up how much money I've spent on fabric, but I think it is safe to say that if I were to never buy fabric again and quilt for another 30 years I'd likely still have fabric left over. It means I always shop at home first. And usually only. Fabric buying involves getting something new that I love, just for the sake of loving it. Or picking up enough yardage for a backing or something specific for a binding. My stash fits in one normal size closet, with a tiny bit spilling over into scraps bins or the quilts under construction/batting closet. Gone are the days when it fit under a bed in a plastic bin.

When I started quilting nearly 17 years ago the advice du jour when picking a palette for your quilt was to find a large scale print you liked for the colours, then pick coordinating fabric for your blocks, add a little zinger of a border around your blocks, and make a big border of that large scale print. I still see that in action all the time. When I give trunk shows at guild meetings I will take a quilt in the room that I see made that way and fold away the large scale border to show quilters the difference in the quilt. Those large scale prints are often quite gorgeous, but they are doing nothing for the quilt. And all that piecing the quilter did is lost to the large scale border. So let them be your guide for picking fabrics, then set it aside or put it on the back. And if you are worried about the quilt being too small now, make more blocks. Or use whatever background fabric you have to be the border now.



Looking back on my childhood I've realized that I was destined to be a quilter. It wasn't the sewing of the barbie dresses or winning the Home Ec award in grade 8. It was my constant reorganization of my colouring supplies. One day it was rainbow, the next I was making colour combinations. I wrote my notes in colour order and obsessed over 4 colour pens. It was not acceptable to me to have a single box of jumbled up colours. This wasn't OCD, this was playing with colour.

Picking fabric is also playing with colour. Play being the key word there. No one is saying your piles of fabric have to become anything. Pick and repick, dig through your stash and challenge yourself to make a certain ugly fabric play nicely with others, get lost in interpreting a store window through your stash.



For some quilters picking fabric is stressful and hard. I feel for you. Getting to the point of fearlessness and confidence in fabric selection is no different than being comfortable with free motion quilting. It takes time. And practice.

The only way to gain confidence in fabric selection is to just do it. Read or take classes in colour theory, learn about value, stop obsessing over whether this particular green is the same as the green in that fabric, step away from the pre cuts. Pull fabric for the sake of pulling fabric. Leave the bundle be for a little while then put it all away and start again. Make practice blocks in your fabric pull before launching into a full quilt. Ask for advice and actually listen. It should never cause stress, only joy. It should bring excitement and possibly induce a little bit of drooling.

If you've got the inspiration, now you pick the fabric. Fabric is awesome and the root of what we quilters do.

This is the second post in a monthly series on all the steps of making a quilt. Musings and thoughts on the process.

Upcoming Hand Applique Classes

With two heavy weeks of travel behind me I am so happy I have hand appliqué to keep me company. Long plane rides, lonely nights in a hotel room, and an overwhelming need to sew something. Applique keeps my company through all that.

If you've not embraced the power of hand appliqué (and you live in or near Calgary) you can learn the basics from me at My Sewing Room.

I chose the Park pattern from Carolyn Friedlander for the class. It allows us to get a block prepped and basted and get to the appliqué. When we are learning the appliqué we cover the basics of needle turn as well the tricks for sharp corners, smooth curves, and finishing. This block has them all. (And it looks really cool.)

Last month I was basting this block in an open house at the store. So many people commented that they liked the block but would default to a zig zag stitch to get it done. Nothing wrong with that, but I think it misses the point. Hand appliqué isn't about getting it done fast. It is about the process for sure. But it is more about slowing down to sew and, frankly, the portability. Having an on the go project with no end in sight gets us sewing anytime, anywhere. And forces the deep breathes we all need more of as we move through the day.

To register for the class call My Sewing Room at 403-252-3711 and check it out in March, April, or May.

Quiltcon Quilt Keeping Me Warm

 Quiltcon Quilt

103'' x 94''

It takes a long time to finish the binding on a king sized quilt. That was a lot of Top Gear and random Discovery Channel shows sitting on the sofa by my husband. But I'm not complaining one bit because it was totally worth it for this quilt.

Started 2 years ago at the first QuiltCon in an Improv class with Denyse Schmidt, this quilt is a new favourite for me. I know improv, I'm very comfortable with it. Taking cues and following the process of someone else was refreshing. I may not use the brown paper bags Denyse starts with, but that go where you may and trusting your intuition is very similar to my approach a lot of the time. And she totally taught me to embrace the small pieces, the tiny, right alongside the large.

A year after QuiltCon I took out my initial blocks again and made more. Many, many more. Then I spent some time puzzling it together. For me, that part is probably the most fun. It is a challenge, for sure, but so much fun.

(Confused about that puzzling it together part? Check out my new class on CreativeLive all about that!)

A few days of work to get it all together and I was thrilled with the completed top. I was not thrilled with the prospect of quilting another king size quilt on my home machine, however. Especially because I wanted something more than straight lines on this. So I convinced my friend Andrea at Urban Quiltworks to play.

And boy did she do a stellar job!

She embraced the spirit of improv with her quilting as well. We settled on a lovely yellow thread from Wonderfil, then I left her to her own devices. She did some all over work, some line work, some dense parts, left some spaces open. If your eye wasn't already moving constantly with the piecing, the quilting will get it going. There is just so much to see. And so much additional texture created.

To be honest, I feel totally spoiled and honoured to have her work on this quilt. It is absolutely perfect. The right compliment between the piecing and the quilting for sure.

A few people that have seen this quilt have commented on the colour scheme. I must say, that was entirely unintentional. In Denyse's class you start with your chosen feature fabric - the black and white in my case - and her bags of scraps. You also pick a solid. I must admit that my hand was directed a little by my friend Jules as it blindly searched in the paper bag for my solid selection. I never, ever would have picked this weird green/grey/sage colour. But I am happy she led me to it.

At home, when making more blocks I used the initial fabrics found in the classroom blocks as my guide. Just tiny bits of orange, yellow, and that magenta tones. A bit of brown and blue. More grey. Overall it feels cool. There is no bright pink and only snippets of purple. It feels like there is a bit of control, but mostly just randomness. 

Actually, it feels like home to me and it is wonderful to have this beauty finished and keeping us warm at night.