Friday finishes

It is done! finished ! washed and dried! wrapped and ready!

I cut this one close! I needed it finished by today to take on the plane with me, to my friends in Calgary. Their daughter just got married, and I wanted to take a quilt for a wedding gift. Of course I would have been done long ago except.....the one I started for them...I decided to keep for myself!! It was fabric that I loved, and just couldn't give it away..

So I quickly had to start....and finish...something new!
The fabric is "Etchings" by Moda. I am not sure what the dark navy fabric is, I just liked how it contrasted..

The backing is "Wordplay" by Benartex.

And the binding is my effort to get a bit more whimsical ....dots!

It finished at 64" x 72". ..lots of FMQ practice!!

Work in Progress Wednesday

Well it is work in progress wednesday again!

And I am furiously trying to finish the quilt for the wedding gift....(seeing as how I liked the first one too much to give it away LOL)
I am getting more relaxed with my FMQ! Still lots of mistakes, and a few unplanned squiggles....but I put a lot faith in a good washing and dryer session!!

I used a wavy line for the narrow border, and  a repeating loop for the wider border...

In the triangles I used straight lines - zigging and zagging back and forth. I found that I do not do straight lines very well, and manage curves and loops much better.

The backing is a fun print with quilty words rambling across it....

and for the binding..I went outside my usual comfort zone of just using the border fabric and tried dots....

OK, they are really tiny dots....but that is a start, right???....Baby Steps!!

So I just have to hand stitch the binding ...add add the label, and it will be ready to go!! Has to get done before Friday!  Better get to work!!
But don't forget to check out what everyone else is doing over at Lee's blog...Freshly Pieced

workshop wonders

Well, I am home again, we had a great trip! Charlotte North Carolina is a beautiful City and everyone is sooo friendly and helpful.

Here is my group from the first day of workshop...

and the instructor Jenny with me...

and the view from the room we were working in...

Fabulous view, and bright and sunny!

This is my new Canadian friend that joined us for the second day of workshop...

Jenny brought some samples of her work to show ...and inspire us. Here are some pictures (with her permission). For more information on her work you can check out her website here.

Her landscapes are very interesting with lots of texture...

And then she does the fabric fantasy class...

This is all just folding and and she calls it "twiddling and fiddling"!

This is laying out my attempt at landscape..

As you can see ...I am not an artist, and have no imagination!! Also I travelled with a small ziplock bag of fabric, so was very limited in my choices for colour. That's my excuse...and I am sticking with it!!

And this is my fabric fantasy...

it is not finished yet, and has gotten a little squashed in my suitcase coming home, but I am pretty happy with it! There is a lot more detail added by tucking and tacking or I guess it would be twiddling and fiddling!!

All in all it was a lot of fun, and I met some wonderful people and learned some new techniques.

Charlotte, Charlotte!

Well I can't say enough good things about my visit here in Charlotte!
I can't post any pictures today, even though I have taken lots...but I only have my iPad, so can't upload them now.......will post more when I get home. But I am just so excited about this, that I had to share!!!

I already mentioned that I had emailed the quilt guild here to ask about local quilt shops, and Kathy got right back to me and invited me to a workshop they were holding this weekend! How lucky is that?

I was a bit nervous about driving and finding the location ....Charlotte is a big city. But, if you can believe it, the location was about 5 minutes from our hotel, and literally I had to make 2 turns!! How lucky is that?

Oh, and there is more luck...

I signed up for 2 workshops, full days of sewing. The first day was a landscape class, I have pictures of what I made....and some of what it was supposed to look like! Will post them when I get home.

And when I got back to the hotel, my husband and I joined a fellow Canadian he had met at the conference and his wife, Dorothy, for dinner. When I told her about the class that I had take, wouldn't you know it...she is a quilter too! How lucky is that!

So we phoned Kathy, and they were happy to have her join us for the next class I had signed up for. And they found yet another sewing machine for her to use. They had already provided one for me!(thank you Phyliss!!)

So Dorothy and I went off to a fabric store to check it out and get some fabric for her for the class. If you have never heard of Mary Jo's Cloth Store in Gastonia, you need to go there at least once!!OMG! It is HUGE! Like the size of a warehouse....filled with fabric of all kinds! I could spend a whole post just describing that! Anyway we both bought enough to fill up those last corners of our suitcases!

The second class was called Fabric Fantasy and Amazing Manipulations. Such fun! I have pictures you will see later. The instructor, Jennie Rayment,was so entertaining too. You can check out her website, www.jennierayment.com for pictures of what she does.

We leave tomorrow, but I really have to say a big thank to the Charlotte Quilt Guild! They welcomed us, shared all their supplies, and made us feel right at home! I even got a guild pin.....Maybe I am now an honorary member! THANK YOU!

Work in Progress Wednesday

Did I once promise not to start anything new until I finished up some of these half done quilt tops????
mmmmm......I don't remember saying that either!!

So after cutting up my very favorite fabric ..Origins by Moda..... I am happy with the layout (thank you to all of you for your comments !!) I need to add the border to it still...and of course then actually finish it...

But once I decided that I loved this one, and had been cherishing the fabric for months, so I couldn't give it away..I had to come up with something else for the wedding gift!!! Not to worry....I have lots of ideas in my head.....so I just pulled one out and got to work!

For those of you who remember all the whining about my sewing machine problems when I was FMQ "Daydream" (sorry about that!) If you missed it you can get a dose of it here!!
Well, I am about half way finished the FMQ on this one, and it is going so smoothly even I am surprised!!
I am loving this again.....but sort of waiting for the problems to start!

I am not sure what is different...same thread same needle, same tension, feed dogs are UP (I dont drop the feed dogs) and stitch length set to zero. Anyway, it is so much less stressful when everything is working well.

I am leaving at noon today for North Carolina, so will be unable to post for a few days!
I am going over to Lee's blog, Freshly Pieced,  now to check out all the creative people posting there!
Then I have to go pack!!

How could I hate my favourite fabric??

Some of you may remember a fat quarter bundle of "Origins" by Moda that I have been saving.

I love these colors and just couldn't bear to cut it up!
But...one of my best friends has a daughter who just got married, and I thought to myself ...Self..isn't this a good reason to break into that special fabric??? And Self thought ..yes, yes it is!

So I cut it up. In my mind I thought large blocks of this would look like fields of flowers, or a meadow in spring time. ...

Boy was I wrong! I hated it...

I thought maybe some extra black sashing would help.....

but nope....still hated it!!

How could I hate this? I love those colors and I have been saving this for something special!! I thought about just putting it away and looking at again in a few weeks with fresh eyes, but then decided just to cut the blocks up into smaller pieces and see what happens!  Couldn't be any worse, I thought!

Then I started playing with the now little bits of fabric...and really wish that I had a design wall, because crawling around on the hardwood floor got old pretty quickly !!   : )

Anyway, I ended up with this...

...and now I think I love it again!

In fact my daughter asked how I could give it away, after all that. At first I thought that it would be nice to give something I loved so much...but then I got selfish!! I think I might have to keep this one!
mmmm Is that bad??
 Of course that meant back to the drawing board for the wedding gift, but not to worry, it is under control....but that is a story for another day! 

Charlotte North Carolina!

I am so excited! I am going to Charlotte, North Carolina next week!

My husband has a conference there and I am joining him!  I don't really know anything about Charlotte, or North Carolina for that matter, but guess I will find out!
And what is even more exciting.... There is a quilting workshop going on there , with the local quilt guild..and I am going to attend a couple of days!!
The workshops are taught by Jennie Rayment   (www.jennierayment.com)
And this is a couple of the things she will be doing...

Looks like great fun!! Now to see what I can squeeze into my suitcase to take along for this!!