Pinmoors

I love making quilted pillows. They're like mini quilts. And who doesn't LOVE a quick finish! A friend of mine is moving to a new home and I thought I'd make her a couple of pillows. I've had Jaybird's Hex n More ruler for a while now, and her pillow pattern, Candy Dish to use it with. Perfect! It's been a lot of fun putting this project together, a bit like a puzzle. The pattern directions are very good too. Don't cut off those little 'ears', they help line up the pieces :)
For basting small projects, I've been using Pinmoors. They're like little rubber plugs you stab your pins into. I like to use long pins, it seems to lie flatter that way. And they're easier on my poor fingers than safety pins! These little things get 2 thumbs up from me!

Sewing at Sea!

Hey everyone! Really enjoyed seeing the fantastic projects you are working on. Who says there is no time for sewing in the summer! Barry and I have been enjoying a wonderful sailing trip in non-stop sunshine.  I wanted to share a sewing project that I made for the boat. I found a youtube video for how to make a windscoop and had fun mucking about sail lofts and sailing canvas companies for all the materials. I hauled out my Bernina to do the hard work of sewing through many layers of Sunbrella fabric and found UV polyester thread at Capital Iron - really happy with the result! It kept us cool by funneling air through the cabin.

I also enjoyed spending some time ironing my Dresden Plate blocks on the boat and doing some applique as well. It was fun bringing my little ironing pad, travel iron and the handsewing kit that Kim made me!

Monday Quilting

Our little quilt group was a happy one on Monday. Pam is back! Fresh from the Calgary Stampede! Yeehaw!
Tracy is happily sailing somewhere....hope you're taking photos Tracy :)
Here's what we were working on...

 Pam brought her sample from the dye workshop. The photo doesn't do it justice, there are buttons sewn into the long yellow strip. Very clever.

 Gaye made another Dresden pillow to go with the first one. She outdid herself on this one and we all agreed she should enter it in the Saanichton Fair! It's a winner!

 Gaye also got a head start on her Hawaiian print quilt. I am really in love with this one! Good thing I am making one of my own. :)

 Karen got a great deal on somebody's half finished project. A flannel rag quilt. Don't get carpel tunnel Karen! That's going to be very cuddly, can't wait to see that fresh from the dryer....

 This is a Candy Dish pillow cover in progress. Sorry about the poor photo, but you get the idea. This is a Jaybird pattern. It is so much fun to put together. I was worried about sewing triangle to triangle but with her clever ruler, the Hex n More, it was a breeze. I love that ruler!!

 I'm putting the binding on the Churn Dash. I promised Alicia I would have it finished before her baby is born. I hope she's not early.... :o

This is a little heart quilt I'm giving to my son for his friend. 

Look at those white legs! shocking.....

I'm linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday.

Blocks to Calgary

There has been all kinds of bad news this month. A devasting train wreck in Quebec and flooding in Toronto and Calgary. And that's just in Canada. There was another train wreck in France recently too.

It's heartwarming to see some quilters reaching out when they can, to show a little bit of quilt-y love. Use your power for good, right? 

When I saw that Cheryl from Dining Room Empire was jumping in to help organize a block drive, I put down my other sewing project (sorry Alicia- I promise I'll have the quilt done before the baby is born!) and started to make a couple of slabs.  I made one of these quilts from Sunday Morning Quilts already and it was a lot of fun. I gave myself a day and a half to make some blocks and was only able to make two. The blocks need to get to Cheryl by July 30 so I worried about any delay in mailing them.
Here are my two slabs.

They have been mailed :)

    Tracy, our quilting partner-in-crime, had a birthday this week. We usually have lunch or appys and exchange some fun gifts. We have a spending limit of $5 and since I'm a very poor shopper (or just lazy?) I usually try to make something. We do this at Christmas too. I have to admit, I really love planning ahead and making gifts. There are only 5 of us so I only need to make 4 items. That's do-able, eh? I think so.
Deciding what to make for Tracy was pretty easy- she loves to hand quilt. I opted to make her two drawstring bags in different sizes using This tutorial  and a cute pincushion using this tutorial.
  I like to use crushed walnut shells to fill my pincushions. They give them a nice weight and they don't scoot out from under my pin when I stab at it. You can find crushed walnut shells at most pet stores. They are used for lining lizard beds I think.
    I'm linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.

A summer birthday

Yesterday we had a birthday party- quilters style. Karen always volunteers her place if she's in town, and who can say no to a poolside party? With a beautiful view beyond too!
Karen served us lemonade with fresh mint, straight from her garden. We feasted on meatballs, fresh veggies, fine cheese and a pasta salad, followed by rhubarb cobbler.

After that Tracy opened her presents (the fun part!) and then we had a nice, lazy stroll through Karen's lovely garden. Of course, it's not a quilter style party without some quilting!

Gaye worked on her second Dresden plate pillow- I love those Dresden's!!

The Birthday Girl brought her own Dresden project too. Soooo pretty.

Karen was very busy in the previous weeks, with a Crazy Cats class and also a dyeing session. Here are some of her lovely samples.

I can't wait to see what she makes with those!!! If you look back at the first photo, notice the bottom left corner....That's a sneaky peek at one of her current works. Karen is quite a fabric artist! If I were you, I would snap up some of her beautiful wall-hangings before she gets wildly popular and the prices go through the roof!!

We were missing one of our group though, Pam. I have to be honest- it was weird celebrating and sewing without you. Hurry back to us please :) 

Dad's Quilt

 Yesterday was my father's birthday. He's 83. I took him some cannelloni and a Boston cream pie for lunch. Then we walked the dogs in a park on the ocean. It was sunny and warm and he says it was a perfect day.
Over the years Dad has supported my quilting 'habit' and has made me a cabinet with huge drawers, a quilt ladder to hang my quilts on, a counter height cutting table and a quilting frame.
I think he deserved a quilt, don't you?