It's a secret

I can't show the whole thing just yet, but I can give you a little tease. 

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild has been participating in the Robert Kaufman Kona challenge.  (click here to see other wonderfully creative quilts!)  We all received charm packs of the Kona darks - a real challenge!  And were told to make a quilt - we could add any fabric we liked as long as the charms remained the focus of the quilt.  I had an idea right from the start, and got going on it
at a Blue Mountain Quilters Guild retreat.  When I described what I was planning on doing, the first comment I heard was "There's drugs for that you know" and the second was "Insanity"  So my working title on this piece is "There's Drugs for That - the Little Pill of Insanity".
Well, I'm happy to report that the quilt top is finished (we don't actually have to have it quilted by the June meeting) and that I'm still here and not safely ensconced in a nicely padded room some where.

It was  a lot of fun, and I have to say I am very happy with how it turned out.  The full reveal will happen after the meeting on June 16, so stay tuned!

Happy quilting!

Things to post

as in mail! A few weeks ago my mother mentioned she'd like some new placemats to match a wall hanging I made for her back in 2008.  They've just moved in to a new place and she has it hanging in the dining room, and would like 6 placemats, please. 
I don't seem to have a copy of the one I gave her, but it was the mirror image of this one, with coloured leaves and pale backgrounds:

Seeing as it was so long ago, I doubted if I had enough of the fabrics left to create anything. let alone 6 placemats, but I dug through my scrap bags, and lo and behold, I was able to piece together 6!  They are scrappy, the fabrics aren't quite the same ones as used originally, but I think they should do the trick!

I had fun playing with some FMQ

Randomly quilted some leaves here and there

and machine applied the binding

Now, just have to pack them up and get them in the mail!

Also going in the mail by Monday is my Mini QT Swap - Circles and Curves was the theme for this quilt, for needles-n-notions.  Just a peak, as while Tina knows its's coming from me, she hasn't seen the whole thing yet!

Happy quilting!

Inspiration abounds!

We had a great time on our camping trip - the weather cooperated for the most part - a sprinkling of rain on Friday night, but then dry - but oh it was windy and cold!  Did someone forget to tell Mother Nature that it's the end of May now?  She was happy to provide us with boundless beauty and inspiration.  The west coast of Vancouver Island is a magical place - so much to see!  So inspiring!  Here is just a sampling of what caught my eye.  Somehow, sometime, somewhere, some of these will work their way into my quilts I'm sure!
(For some reason, Blogger is not permitting me to link directly to my Flickr account.  To see these and a few other shots, please click here)

Back to quilting next post, 'til then,
Happy quilting!

Slow week

I've not been very productive this week - just can't hang on to the inspiration - it come and goes, and just doesn't want to stay.
Last weekend was a great sewing weekend, though.  I went to a Blue Mountain Quilters Guild workshop and came home with a completed top.  We were working on a Trip for Two to Boston.  Here's the recipe for that:
Take two quilters, 15 FQ and approximately 2 meters of fabric.  Cut cut cut, sew sew sew, cut some more, sew some more and lo and behold you both go home with a quilt top!

the end of the first day

What a blast we had!  Here are the completed tops we went home with

Mine

My partner in crime - Brigitte's

Today I managed to finish off my 4X6ers postcards for this month.  Our theme was Buildings, and I tried something new - TAP and my coloured pencils.  Just a little peek for you now, as I don't want to ruin anyone's surprise!

now what could it be?

We're heading out for the weekend to do some camping on the west coast of Vancouver Island - today is lovely - sunny and warm - I do hope it stays that way, 'coz I really don't like camping in the rain and cold.  Wish us good weather!

 Happy quilting!

It's BQF Time!

that's Bloggers Quilt Festival - Spring 2011! 

Welcome to anyone who is arriving here from Amy Ellis' site, Amy's Creative Side.
For those of you new to Blogger's Quilt Festival, Amy has created this virtual quilt show to coincide with Quilt Market in the spring and fall of each year.  For those of us unable to go to Quilt Market, it gives us a wonderful opportunity to share and be inspired by other's quilts.  I encourage you to hop over to Amy's site and submit a quilt of your own, and then make sure you take a look all all the incredible quilts that are linked!  Select this link, or the button in my sidebar, and be inspired!

My entry this time round is a little quilt that I've just recently finished.  It is small - only about 14" square, but it allowed me to have fun and play with a lot of free motion stitching, texture, and some sparkly thread!  It is the second in a series, which was inspired by some of the marvelous zentangles I've been seeing.  I've decided that this type of freedom is what I really enjoy in my quilting, and you can expect to see more of this happening in my future!

Sunny Days 2

and a few progress shots!

Happy quilting!

Check it out!

Can you believe it?  My DQS10 quilt,
 (you've seen it before, but here it is again!)

that I made for Quilting Barbie 
 has been featured on a Sew, Mama, Sew trends post! 
See it here in the company of a lot of beautiful quilts!

Now that makes for a very happy Monday!

Happy quilting!

Sunny Days 2

Sunny Days 2, a photo by What Comes Next on Flickr.

I finished sewing the binding on my second version of Sunny Days and like the way it has turned out, too! Now to see what comes next for this serial quilter!