Transforming Fabric Once Again

 I finished the "Check it Out" quilt top, a mystery quilt by Heather Spence, run by Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I used the jelly roll I won last year from MSQC.  I have yet to add the border(s).

I finally finished this quilt for my sister.  I had the fabric ("Indian Summer") for a few years and pondered about a few different patterns, but finally settled on this pattern, a simple 9-patch.  

50" x 70"

A simple daisy pantograph to match the little flowers in the quilt top.

The finished "Freebie 15 BOM" quilt top from the now-closed Traditional Pastimes here in Calgary.  I took out some of the bright blocks and used cotton fabrics instead of some of the provided muslin fabric, and sort of "designed" two of the blocks.  

This quilt was for one of my nephews, and he loved it.  

62" x 90"

I love this pantograph to match the squares and rectangles of the quilt top.

A baby girl "Diamond in the Rough" quilt.

(And my cute quilt holder. xo)

Now onto other projects:

I made hooded bath towels for my boys.  

I am working on a Scrap Dance Quilt Along.  Here are two of the month clues.  This QA ends in September and I am using up kids' fabrics for a baby quilt. 

Another project:

2" HST Swap (through MSQC)

I have never done a swap before so this was fun.

I used these templates and have sent in my 56 2" HST and now am awaiting a mishmash of 56" HST in return.  Not sure what I will make with these HST yet.

These are the 2 styles of fabrics that I did.  (Paper kept on and not ironed as per instructions.)

I am working on another Mystery Quilt: "Double Cross" by Heather Spence 

This time I am doing 2 quilt tops, the blue/pinks for my church group's cancer donation quilts, and the green/black is mine.   

The first 2 pix are Steps 1 & 2

Step 3 

There are 48 of each block now.

And finally...

Prairie Chicks 2015 BOM

April BOM

May 2015 BOM

First Post of 2015!

It has been a busy, albeit good year!

Our family of four is doing well and keep busy.

Feeding a growing family, means lots of meal planning, and I finally put all my favourite recipes I had collected over many years into a coil-bound book.  Almost 300 pages in all, but I like having my recipes close by.

I made the cover page with the use of Wordle.com and then a bit of photoshop.  Tada!

Autumn 2014: I joined an "Art & Soul" class at our women's group at church.  It was fun.  I am in NO way artsy, so this was a fun experiment.  

The picture doesn't do this "artwork" justice, but it is layers of textures and colours.  

8"x12"

Christmas was a busy time.

For the first time ever, I made dough ornaments.

I thought I would hang them on the tree but the feet ornaments were quite heavy, so I carefully packed them away in the boys' keepsakes boxes.  One day they will hopefully enjoy seeing how small their hands and feet were!

I tried lots of recipes in 2014!  Oh the joys of being home on mat leave.  

These yummy buns were one of my adventures. 

I bought some Epicure mini-loaf pans and made some yummy loaves.

A few years ago I made the green & red stocking for Little Man #1, but now Little Man #2 also needed a stocking.  I like these patterns and they are quite easy and fun.  They are a quilt-as-you-go.  

The backs of the stockings. 

In my house, Christmas stockings are not just for decoration and gifts.  They are also worn as booties.  Oh my 5 year old is a silly boy sometimes.  :)

Stocking stuffers for the ladies: coffee cuffs

(The guys got hardware miscellaneous.)

For grandma and the kids: microwavable heat packs.

Finished: "Mum's the Word" quilt.  

Back of the quilt.

Another finish: Spring 2014 Mystery Quilt.  The colours on this one made me think of standing at a beach and looking over the sand, logs, and trees along the waters edge, so I had it quilted in a pebble-ish pattern.  

When my folks were visiting, my mom made this cute little mug warmer for me.  

At some point last year, I went through a bunch of flannel fabric and made some mini quilts that I donated to my local hospital's NICU.

This is the front and back before I quilted it.  

Two large flannel receiving blankets.

Mini quilts but sometimes perfect for the wee little preemies who just need a small blanket to cover their bodies.

I got this cute blanket from a thrift store.  Washed it and donated it with the homemade blankets/quilts for the NICU.  

At some point (probably summer) I used up flannel to make these baby bum wipes.  Great money saver.  I make my own baby bum spray and pour it into spray bottles.  Budget friends and it is much better than the commercially-made products.  

I bought some thrift-store scarves, washed them and sewed them into infinity scarves.  Great little gifts.  

Disappearing Hourglass blocks.

(Tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company)

I was going to sew these quilt blocks into a quilt but they just didn't grab me, so that is as far as I got with them.  Now they are sitting in a box.  

I used up old scraps of fabric to make this mini baby quilt.  

This is NOT my quilt, but one of the quilts that my church quilt group made for someone with cancer.  I love this pattern and need to make something like it one day.  

And... I finally finished up the "Freebie 15" quilt blocks from Traditional Pastimes.  That store closed its doors in the Autumn, so this was my last quilt from that store.  

This was one of my favourite blocks.

This block was designed by me!  

There were a few blocks that had colours that were not to my liking, so I would use up other fabrics. 

Thus, a new block was designed. 

I kinda designed this block as well.  Fun.  

I used to absolutely dislike batiks.  This block grabbed my attention and I don't mind the batiks.

And FINALLY... I put the blocks together!

I took the blocks to BC with us in October, and my sister helped me piece the blocks.

This quilt will be for my nephew, so I think it really looks quite masculine.  

For awhile, I was so far behind in my quilt block piecing that I didn't even get a lot of the quilt blocks from 2014 done until this year.  Hey, I needed a therapeutic break from the stress of returning back to work!

I finished up the yellow/grey/white "Farmer's Wife" quilt blocks that I purchased as the BOM from Prairie Chicks Quilting in Saskatchewan.  (Not the best website, but a fantastic little store if you are ever near Saskatoon!!)

I just have to sew the backing together, then this sweet quilt will be off to my friend's for final quilting.  

I signed up for the 2015 block of the month at Prairie Chicks Quilting.

This year's BOM theme is "Long Road Home" and I picked the Beach Colours with beige background.  

This red and white quilt seemed to have taken me forever.  

I made this quilt for the church quilt group, but it was SO much sewing and cutting and ironing!!

I totally botched up the points because the instructions were not very specific, but it is done!

This lapsize quilt is also awaiting finishing touches.  

Last year I won a Jelly Roll (40 2.5"x width of fabric) RJR Fabrics in the USA.

The fabric is called "Lagoon" by Malam Batiks.

I honestly wasn't crazy about the fabric at first but it is growing on me.  

I bought the beige-coloured batik fabric shown.

I am using this batik jelly roll in Heather Spence's Mystery Quilt that is now going on at Missouri Star Quilt Company.

Here are snapshots of some of the pix of each week.

The colours change with the light.  

This Friday it is the final reveal for the mystery quilt... and then the piecing will commence and another quilt top will be made!

Stay tuned!