Another Betty Quilt

This is a customers quilt and not my mom Betty. This is Betty R's Quilt. She had it in the quilt show this past week. So if you were at the show you may have seen it. It is so soft and warm looking.

We used two thread colours to make some quilting show more than others. The boarders and the flowers and bugs I did were quilting in pink thread. Then the background leaves and loops done in the center area was done in cream thread and does not show up as much. I think it adds to the softness of the quilt.

Quilt Bee Tuesday and we are meeting today. I must go make my lunch, pack my quilting and get on the road.

Living Colour Auction for APWQ

Photo by Mark Frey

Evaluation of Colour 

Artist Statement
I had leftover triangles, which led to an idea for making lightning out of them. I thought about lightning bringing life to color, color to life. The triangles didn’t work the way I had in mind, so I decided to go with free-form cut shapes instead and threw out the triangles. I was influenced in part by a class taken with Jane Sassaman.

Techniques & Materials
A curve pieced background and fused lighting and amoebas. The fabrics used are all my own hand dyes.

This quilt was made for the APWQ Auction a few years back. So long ago I kind of forgot about it. I was so pleased to be asked if I would make them something for this show and auction. I have had many quilts in their show over the years and even got a prize one time. The quilt has been travelling around the past few years. 

To see more of the auction check this out. There are a number of Canadian ladies here. If you have ever thought you would like to own a quilt from a great quilter this may be a great chance. The auction is Saturday Aug 27th 2011 at the Gala Dinner. The Quilt show is also great with many many wonderful quilts to see. If your are able to go, Just Do It. 

Photo by Cathy Tomm

Happy Father's Day I am going to a horse show in Calgary with my Dad. Cavalia not your normal horse show.

Fleeces

I have hand washed some kid mohair fleece. I am not sure what I will do with the locks. I may try spinning it into some fancy yarn. I may dye it first or just add in the white. I bought and shared half a kid fleece with a friend. We also have two beautiful sheep fleeces at the mill to be washed and combed into a roving. Those fleeces are snowy white also. I plan to dye and wet felt some of those fleeces. You will have to wait and see what I do with my other fibre hobby. I want to make a new pair of mittens this summer too, so it may make it into my mittens too. What fun.

Guild Challenge Quilt Revealed

This is Button Trees my entry to the Edmonton and District Quilter's Guild Challenge also called the Wild Rose Quilt Show. The little quilt was to be 12 inches square. Way back in March I had been working on the little quilt but made the quilt the wrong size. I almost gave up. Here is the link to the post. Now that the challenge is done and the quilt is home I can finally show you my quilt. A friend said "Who does not like buttons".

This is Brad's plaid quilt - side ways again. (And now I have Bold and can not get rite of it. ) I had this in the quilt show. I had pinned a sleeve on the quilt to hang and the quilt is well used already so it is not hanging very well. I hate it when the quilts look all wavy. When my quilts are new I do not have this trouble but now that it is well used it hangs funny. Maybe it is the sleeve - pinned not sewn by hand. 

Year End Quilter's Dinner

The Edmonton and District Quilter's Guild had the year end Dinner last night. They asked us to dress with our Hats or Fascinators in honour of the royal wedding this spring.  Here is me in the family's pink hat. The hat was make by Mom's great aunt for my Grandmother to wear at mom's wedding. Then my Mom wore the hat to my wedding. So the hat has been mother of the bride hat twice. 

Another great hat at the dinner last night. She had made this hat for the Canadian Derby a few years back, so there are horseshoes on the hat. I think she won a prize that year for her hat. 

At the year end dinner we also have some kind of fund raiser for the University of Alberta grant that the guild sponsors. This year we were making Mo Jo dolls that are then raffled off. We sell tickets and you place a ticket in the bag of the dolls you want to win. I think tickets were 15 for $10.00 and other amounts.

More great dolls. I did not make one this year. I planned to but I guess time ran out.

I bought lots of tickets but I did not win one this year.

Fern was her name.

There were so many and I only got a few photos. This one was beaded and behind glass.

Mom and the little kids.

Quilt Show - Great !

What a great Quilt Show. I had fun. The Quilts were great. I forgot to take my camera and get a few photos. Sorry.  However this quilt is one I did for a customer, Carolynn, she had it in the quilt show. She was on the committee so I thought I would show hers off today.

Here is a close up. I did a free motion curly thing in the card trick block. The sashing had a wave with a crescent moon at each dip. The boarder is not pictured but it had vein like quilting that matched with the block well. We also chose stippling for the background of the block. I was really pleased with this quilt. Carolyns workmanship was so good it made my job very easy. I am lucky to get so many well done quilt tops.

I think this week I will work on posting more of the quilts I did in the show. I have a small group you have not seen yet, unless you were at the show. The Edmonton Guild has their year end dinner on Wed night. I promise to take my camera. I think some of the winning quilts are to be at the dinner and the challenge quilts.

PS my Blue Days of Summer Quilt made it home on Friday afternoon. I was able to hang the quilt at my booth this weekend.

Rainbow Baby Steps Kit

The Set up for the Edmonton and District Quilt Show is later today More Information on the poster. It is all day Saturday and Sunday this weekend.  I have dyed cloth and made this baby quilt into kits to sell. Every thing you need is in the kit but backing and batting and thread. I have the 12 colours of dyed cloth and a large piece for binding and then the White and the pattern to follow. It is all Kona Cotton used in the kits. My friends in my bee group loved the idea and encourager me to do the kit. My Mom has been a great help. She ironed all the fabric and helped edit my pattern.

A close up view of the quilting I did on my sample.

Below is the stacks of cloth cut and read to go into the kits. Now to just get them all priced and folded in the bags. 

Hope to see you all at the quilt show (at least you local ladies). I will get some photos at the quilt show to you all next week.

Quilt Show this weekend

The Edmonton and District Quilt Guild is having a Quilt show this weekend. To view the poster with all the information Please check This Out  I have a booth to promote my long arm machine quilting and to sell some hand dyed fabrics. I have been very busy making up kits and dyeing and washing and cutting and sorting and pricing and packing. You get the idea.

Here are two of the mixed fibre kits I have made for sale. They have a Fat Quarter of quilting cotton, some cheese cloth, some shear cotton, a vintage dolly, a vintage napkin or hankie, a roving of wool, 5 silk cocoons and then the fall kit has a silk hankie and the bright kit has a extra dolly as I ran out of silk hankies to dye. Some of the kits do have a little variation. I know some have a strip of lace or other wool or extra dollies. That is part of what makes them fun. I am pleased with all the colours I got done. Some in Blue that are kind of winter like, Fall (like below), Spring, Neutrals, Jewel bright (like above), pink and green, and all green and a few others. At the last booth I did, I sold out of these in the first day. I am taking more this time.

Frog Quilt

I have been quilting like mad again. This cute as a frog quilt is going home to a customer on the other end of the country. A good friend moved out east and her new quilting friend loved the quilt I had done for her. So she mailed me a quilt. Our friend is flying back this week and will take it home to her. Postal strike still on, so glad this one is not going in the mail.

I kind of knew what I want to quilt on this quilt by just a little note about it being frogs and other bugs appliquéd on the it. I knew I wanted to do more quilted bugs. The frogs are fused appliqué and then hand blanket stitched with variegation thread. This detail does not show up in the photos. I did just a hint of quilting on the frog. I then outlined the frog and stitched in the frame.

Here is one of the bugs I did. It is a bee. I also did butterflies, dragonflies, and ladybugs. This was a very fun quilt to work on and turned out so cute.

Update on my quilt from the National Juried Quilt Show. I have heard from them at CQA. They did not put the quilts in the mail till they knew what was going on with the postal strike. Now they have asked me how I want my quilt sent home. Because the postal strike is rotating and the mail is still moving, just slower, I asked it be sent home by mail.  So maybe Monday it started the trek home. We did not have any mail yesterday. Maybe by Friday - I am hoping. I want to take it to the Quilt Show, so I can display it at my booth. Keeping my fingers crossed.

My Crazy Horse

 These photos are from about two weeks ago. The mosquitoes are very bad already and the horses were standing in the flood water (so much snow and a beaver dam on the creek). I think the bugs were not as bad in the water as the grass. My horse, brown and white paint on the far right, Went for a roll to get the bugs off. Silly Boy.

He kept trying to go all the way over but did not because his head would have been under water.

While he was rolling his friends all took off for the barn yard and left him behind. He galloped off the catch up.

We now have a outdoor riding ring. We have got a fence up (no gate yet) and the ground turned up for a ring. With the bugs being bad it is nice to ride there now as the bugs are not as bad in the dirt compared to the grass. The boys have been riding and getting better too. Soon I hope to play some riding games. I will have to think back to my pony club days.

Dyed Fiber Kit of Goodies

 I have been buying lace dollies and napkins at the local thrift store for a fiber kit. This is one days finds. I also bought some buttons for myself. The little dresses are so cute. I am going to keep them for something special, not sure yet.

Update later in the day. June tells me the little dresses are Ornamental Pot Holder. I thought of them as kitchen ornaments. 

Here is a start to the dyed goods. I have many dollies and napkins done. Also in the photo is some silk cocoons and many cotton sheer pieces dyed. I will be adding more dyed goods and make up kits. I did some dyed fiber kits at a booth last year and sold out in the first day. I will have to get a photo done with a few of the kits done up together. I plan to have some colour themes, fall, spring, green, jewel, and neutral. Great for a mixed media fiber art project. Sounds like fun doesn't it.

Dyeing More

 What have I been doing? I have been doing more fabric dying again. I have a sales booth at the Edmonton and District Quilt show next week end. I needed to get more fabric ready for my booth. These first two photos are Fat Quarters rapped on poles and dyed.

 Sorry it went side ways. The Yellow things in the dye pot are silk cocoons. I am dying a fiber kit. More on them another day.

 I like to dye them all twice to get a cross over of colour. I find it easiest to rap the fabric dry, so between dying, I rise them and hang to dry. Them only when I like what I have I do a finally wash in the machine with hot water and soap. The fabric is now being ironed by my mom so it looks good. I will have to update you on the great stack of pole rapped and dyed fabric soon.

Snow Dyed Results from April

Back in April, before my little visit to the hospital, I got some fabric dyed in the snow. Here are my results. I have many pale blue and purple ones because I used all I had in my sales box. I wanted to replace it all. I also have one larger piece (60x80) to use as a backing on a lap quilt. It turned out great. I am pleased such a large piece turned out so well.

I was kind of hoping for snow in May (got lots last year). Then I could snow dye again. I have my bedding plants bought and plan to get them in the ground Saturday, so now I really do not want snow till December.

Mail and Quilts

My Blue Days of Summer quilt should be on the way home in the mail. BUT we are at the beginning of a mail strike. They plan to do rotating strikes but I am worried. Wishing my quilt was home already. My quilt was at Quilt Canada this past week and is normally mailed home on Monday. In past years it has made it home by Wed or Thru by express post. Thur is here and going and no quilt yet.

Help wish it home.