Show Off Saturday and Christmas Blog Hop

I can finally share this finish.  I shared the beginnings of the quilt here.  The colours are based on the family tartan:

Three of the fabrics were Kona:  Juniper, Curry, and Grellow.  Unfortunately, my photos don't show the trueness of the colours.

I didn't want the quilting to over-power the pattern design, so I went with an all-over stipple in a matching yellow thread.

The centre is an embroidered celtic knot that forms a heart.  A friend at my LQS was kind enough to do the embroidery.

12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop

Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict is hosting the 12-days of Christmas Blog Hop.  Head over to read all about the blog hop and the awesome giveaway.  Here are the blogs participating -- my day is July 24.

Friday, July 14th

From My Carolina Home

Vrooman's Quilts

Pampered Pettit

Saturday, July 15th

Citymousequilter

Vicki's Crafts and Quilting

Quilting Fun

Sunday, July 16th

Swimming in a Sea of Estrogen

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting

Monday, July 17th

Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life

Crayon Box Quilt Studio

Tuesday, July 18th

Seams To Be Sew

Stitchin at Home

Domestic Felicity

Wednesday, July 19th

The Colorful Fabriholic

Smiles From Kate

Thursday, July 20th

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting

The Inquiring Quilter

Selina Quilts

Friday, July 21st

Katie Mae Quilts

Quilted Blooms

QuiltFabrication

Saturday, July 22nd

Devoted Quilter

Kathy's Kwilts and More

All Points of the Compass

Sunday, July 23rd

Mel's Quilting Blog

Resourceful Momma

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting

Monday, July 24th

Anja Quilts

PickingandStitching

A Dream and a Stitch

Tuesday, July 25th

Christina's Handicrafts

Abyquilts

If you have a finish this week, consider linking up with:

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hand Quilts 

Show Off Saturday @ She Can Sew

One Monthly Goal and Finish Along Q3 Goals

It's time to get back on track and get some projects finished.

My July One Monthly Goal is to piece and quilt my Postcard from Sweden -- I fell behind in the QAL hosted by Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts back in March.  I got all the HSTs made, but I need to piece them together.

I missed Q2 for Finish Along 2017.  My Finish Along 2017 Q3 Goals are:

Postcard from Sweden - see above

Kona Strips Quilt - I started this project back in March, but then I forgot all about it.  Oops.  My goal is to finish piecing and then quilt it.

Isla Top - I'm going to make another Isla top using the fabric below.  I love the first one I made.

Washi Dress - Now that I have the confidence from having made the Isla top, I'm finally going to make my Washi dress.  I bought some teal fabric (the colour didn't come through well in the photo below).

I'm hoping that these goals will get me back on track and sewing on a regular basis.  Good bye crazy busy spring!!

The Great Quilting Adventure (and a Giveaway)

I can't believe I haven't shared my great quilting adventure with you.  Two weeks ago, my friend Dena @ No Frickin' Blog Yet and I left home at 4:00 a.m. to drive five hours to buy fabric, not including the 1.5 hours Dena had to drive to get to my house.  And buy fabric we did!!  Mardens in Calais, Maine, had a fabric clearance sale -- $2/yard.  Factor in a 5-hour drive each way, the exchange to Canadian funds, paying 15% tax to Canadian Customs, and the sheer craziness of it...it was so worth it.  I ♥ fabric.

Yes, there were some orange purchases.  😊

I may have purchased 65 yards of fabric.  But what makes the story even better...the clerk was generous with her cuts, so I actually received 65 metres of fabric -- 39/40 inches rather than 36 inches.

More orange...no surprise here.

I'm going to be an Auntie again in September, so a little pink.

Tired of looking at fabric yet?  I had two huge bags that were hard to carry because they were so heavy.

The many, many bolts of fabric were so overwhelming.  Dena and I were the only two in the fabric department, but we kept the two clerks busy cutting fabric.  LOL  I picked up some Michael Miller, Henry Glass, Riley Blake, Robert Kaufmann, and RJR Fabrics.

And if that wasn't enough, we stopped at quilt shops in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the way home.  I never need to buy fabric ever again....but we all know that I will.  😊

Part 1 of the great quilting adventure started a few days before -- I bought a used serger.  I've been wanting one, but didn't want to spend a lot of money as I wasn't sure how much I would use it.  Thanks to Brenda for facilitating the sale since she lived closer to the seller.  Here's my new $60 toy.

You'd think that was enough spending and fun for one week....but you might as well go big or stay home.  I got up early the next morning (I couldn't convince Dena to come with me -- we still had a full-day Sew In with our guild) and went to an estate sale and bought a Singer Featherweight 221 for $200.  ♥ ♥ ♥

She's off for a cleaning and tune-up.  I'm looking forward to testing her out.

Unfortunately, she didn't come with a case, but I did get the original feet and manual.

**Giveaway**

I need help naming my Featherweight.  Comment with your suggestions for a chance to win two patterns:  Candy Dish by Jaybird Patterns and Sweetpea Pods by Lazy Girl Designs.  The giveaway will be open until midnight Tuesday, July 11, 2017, and is open internationally.

Time to start washing fabric and making room in my sewing room...where am I going to put all this fabric???

TGIFF - Double Star Quilts

Welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday being hosted here again on the East Coast of Canada.

If you've been following me on Instagram these past few months, you would have seen the beginnings of these two quilts.  I was commissioned to make quilts for two adorable little girls in South Africa.  It was difficult to find just the right quilt pattern, but I finally found a photo over at Patchwork and Play.  So I sent an e-mail to find out more information, and Susan kindly provided me with some information on the quilt she designed.

Here is the purple quilt.  I ♥ these quilts.

Star and loop free motion quilting in purple variegated thread.

Because the girls are twin sisters, I put a green star (and small piece of green binding) in the purple quilt.

And here is the green quilt -- with a small purple star and piece of purple binding.

More star and loop free motion quilting with green variegated thread.

The quilts arrived in South Africa today.  I was holding breath hoping that they would love the quilts.

The quilts finish at 72 x 84 inches (12-inch blocks with a 6 x 7 block layout).

I under-estimated how much time it would take to cut the fabric and piece all the stars.  I cut it very close to my deadline.  But I had a lot of fun making these quilts, and I hope the girls will use them for many years to come.  Someday, I hope the meet the girls in person, but until then, I will watch them grow up through Instagram.

Now it's time for you to link up your finishes.  Link up your blog post showing off your finished project using the linkup below.  Don't forget to visit a few blogs to spread some quilty love and encouragement.  Please include a link and/or the TGIFF button in your blog post so your followers can also view all the great finishes.

An InLinkz Link-up

Also consider linking up your finish with:

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hand Quilts 

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation 

WIP Wednesday - Commissioned Quilt

It's been a busy spring as I have been working on three commissioned quilts.  Unfortunately, I have been working on all three at the same time, and they had specific (and not possible to change) deadlines.  Two quilts have been shipped to Manitoba and are currently making the journey to their final destination in South Africa.  Once they are received, I'll be able to share next week.

I'm currently working on the third and final quilt, which must be completed by July 10.  The colours were chosen to match a family tartan -- I can't share any more as the quilt will be a gift, and I don't know who may be reading this.

I used three Kona:  Juniper, Curry, and Grellow.  Here is the star block.

9.25 inches square

This is the log cabin block.  I need to make another batch of these before I can begin piecing.

9.25 inches square

Thanks to Dena @ No Frickin' Blog Yet who helped with the math.  My customer found a pattern online, but there was not a pattern available for sale.  So I had to do a lot of math to figure out the log cabin and star blocks to give a similar effect and meet the requested quilt dimensions.  The blocks finish at a non-standard size, so Dena's math expertise was greatly appreciated.  This is the quilt which was found here.

www.amishcountrylanes.com

Linking up with:

Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
WIP Wednesday @ The Needle and Thread Network

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

TGIFF - A Finish, A Winner, and Voting

I realized this week that I neglected to announce the winner of my giveaway.  My apologies.  The winner of a copy the Star Blossom pattern by Tish @ Tish's Adventures in Wonderland and Dave @ Dave the Quilt Engineer is.....Heather J.  Congratulations!!

I have a small finish to show this week.  My quilt guild, Maritime Modern Quilt Guild, hosted a challenge to create something using words.  I made a wall hanging which reflects my involvement in Girl Guides.

The words printed in the two sides are from the song "On My Honour" -- which makes me cry every time I sing it.

On My Honour

On my honour I will try

There's a duty to be done, and I say "aye",

There's a reason here, for a reason above

My honour is to try, and my duty is to love

We've got a promise to always keep

We will sing "Day is Done" before we sleep

We are Girl Guides together, and when we're gone

We'll still be a-trying and a-singing this song...

Here's a link to the lyrics of the song.

I appliqued the symbols:  I ♥ ♣ [If you're a Girl Guide, pretend that's a proper Trefoil symbol. ☺]

I've always wanted to print on fabric using my printer.  My original plan was to print the entire chorus in all four borders, but alas....my printer got the better of me.  I'm impressed with my first attempt, but there is a lot to learn about the finer points of feeding fabric through the printer.

So I managed to get the two key lines:  My honour is to try, and My duty is to love.

The binding is made from an old Girl Guide leader uniform shirt.

The guild is holding an online vote to determine the winner of the challenge.  If you want to participate in the voting and choose your your favourite piece (pick me, pick me ☺), click here to vote.




If you have a finish this week, consider linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finish Friday @ Cut and Alter
Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hand Quilts 

TGIFF - Quarter Round Pillow

Welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday being hosted here in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.

My apologies for the late posting.  As a result, the link up will stay open until midnight Sunday.

If you are new to my blog, welcome.  I hope you take a few minutes to look around to see some of my recent creations.  I do hope you'll stop by again in the future.  And welcome to my regular followers.

I finished my Quarter Round blocks that I showcased here.  The pattern is by Krista @ Poppyprint.

I used four 10.5-inch blocks to make a 20-inch pillow (which I have already gifted).

I used a home decor fabric for the back, with a hidden zipper.  I use this tutorial for installing the zipper.

Unfortunately, you lose the illusion of the circle once you add the pillow form.  I would make this block again, but not to make a pillow.

If you have a finish this week, make sure you link up here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Also consider linking up your finish with:

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hand Quilts 

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation 

A Finish and a Giveaway

You may recall seeing the beginnings of this quilt here back in March.  I had the opportunity to test a pattern for Tish @ Tish's Adventures in Wonderland and Dave @ Dave the Quilt Engineer. 

Today is pattern release day, and here is my baby version of the Star Blossom pattern.  Make sure you visit Tish to see other versions of the pattern.  Each pattern tester is hosting a giveaway for a free copy of the pattern.

This top has been finished for a month, but I couldn't decide on a quilting pattern.  Because I work well under pressure of a tight deadline and wanting to be part of the pattern release today, I did a quick all-over stipple in white thread for a quick finish.

The PDF pattern is available for sale for $10 in Tish's Craftsy Shop.  However, to celebrate the pattern release, she is offering the pattern for $8 until Sunday, June 11.  This is a great pattern, with lots of directions and photos.

Giveaway - I have no plans for summer vacation 😢 and won't be making my annual shopping trip to the USA this fall.  For a chance to win a copy of the Star Blossom pattern, tell me about your summer vacation plans.  The contest is open internationally until midnight Monday, June 5, 2017.

If you have a finish this week, consider linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finish Friday @ Chezzetcook Modern Quilts
Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation