UFO's

I don't think I know a quilter who doesn't have a few ufo's (for the non-quilting readers, a ufo is an un-finished object) just waiting to be finished, given away or thrown out. At our Quilter's Retreat we have a fund raising auction every year and we all take stuff to donate - fabric, books, patterns and ufo's. As I was making a pile of stuff to take I found a bag with about 30 pineapple blocks, lots of cut fabric and some flannel squares. As much as I loved this project I knew it was way down my priority list to finiah. So into the auction it went.

I was thrilled that my good quilt friend Anne Morrell Robinson "won" my ufo. Anne is one of the most dedicated and disciplined quilters I know. I knew she would finish it and she has!

I just love the touches of turquoise and how they add some "spark" to the quilt. I hope Anne will bring it to this year's Retreat so I can see it in person.

This has inspired me to dig out another ufo and really put my mind to getting it done. Several years ago Anne came to the Mahone Bay Quilter's Guild to teach a workshop on her "Antique Flower Vase" pattern. I loved the applique and decided that this had to be a full queen sized quilt. I finished the centre, added a couple of highlight borders then a hand pieced border. The next border would be an applique vine. I have one finished, one almost and then 2 more to go.

The triangle border is hand pieced and had to be "fudged" in to fit! 

I used this ruler, Terry Thompson's The Vine Line to draw the vine and it is wonderful, makes the drawing of the vine for the placement so much easier.

The applique border is hand appliquéd, the flowers etc on each side will be slightly different I will add another pieced border but I am not sure yet what that will be. I just want to really at least get the top finished to take to the Retreat in September.

The beige background fabric is a Jinny Beyer print. When I started this project I had no idea it was going to be a full sized quilt. The centre piece was pretty much all I had. Once the vase and flowers were appliquéd I soon realized it wasn't quite big enough so I took out the stitches around the bottom of the vase and added the border print for the vase to sit on, a tablecloth perhaps? I had just barely enough of the beige for the triangles. I looked on Jinny's website to see if they still had the fabric, there it was but there were 2 or 3 that were similar. In the meantime we had decided to go on a raod trip to the Virginia and Washington DC area to meet up with our friends from England. Cheryl, who is also a quilter, was keen to go to Jinny Beyer's studio so I took my quilt top with me in hopes of matching the fabric. Long story short, I was able to get another 4 yards, lots to finish the quilt! Now to get back to work. Thanks Anne!

Maine and More

The busy days and weeks have slipped by all too quickly! I really meant to be better at posting more often, now I have way too much to catch up on...again!

Sails at Sunset - jo Diggs

We had our annual trek to Maine to visit with my dear friend Jo Diggs. This has become and annual visit in between Remembrance Day and American Thanksgiving - before the silly shopping season begins! I always feel so inspired and refreshed after visiting Jo. She is such a gracious, fun host, wonderful cook and a friend. It is always a busy week for her as it is in-between the Designing Women craft shows where she sells her work. We were able to help her set-up her booth at the Freeport fair and do a little shopping at the other booths. We hope to go back in late June when Jo wll be the featured quilter at the Vermont Quilt Festival - such an honour for a wonderful quilter.

We went to Portsmouth for a day and had to stop in at Portsmouth Fabrics of course. Just has to be one of the best quilt stores anywhere! We stayed overnight at the lovely Inn at Tanglewood Hall and has a delicious dinner at the York Harbor Inn - all to celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary!

Inside Fiddlehead - love the tin ceiling.

On our way back home we stopped in Belfast, Maine to visit a new-to-me quilt store called Fiddlehead, it is right on Main St. next to Darby's Pub. What a terrific find! It was filled to the brim with delightful fabrics, lots of books and art supplies in the back. We arrived at 10am on Sunday morning and it was constantly busy while we were there. This will definitely be a must stop on my favourite quilt store list!

So sad to see this house near Belfast, Maine. It must have been a beauty in it's day.

I'll be back soon, promise, with more scraps from my life!

The Quilt Mafia Meets Again!

We are 22 quite diverse quilters, well mostly quilters. Several are knitters as well and we have a couple of doll makers (but not your usual dolls - these are one of a kind, collectable art dolls). Some dabble with paints both on paper and fabric, some use paper as their medium of choice. But what we all love best is just getting together for a day to stitch, knit, use threads and fibres, talk and eat! There are more pictures here.

Uta, Polly, Deb, Anne and Val

Penny Beren's daily "scratching". Penny started on January 1, 2012 to add a row and stitch/embroider every day something, a memory or an event from that day. I so admire her dedication to this project, the humour she stitches and the artistry.

Just how Penny felt the day after she visited the quilt shows and the merchant mall at Quilt Canada in Halifax!

I am always amazed by what everyone brings to show, finished pieces as well as works in progress. We are so varied by what we do from traditional to contemporary, from functional to "art" and Val shared some wonderful stitched pieces from her African Threads.

Linda explains her work in progress "The Habituation of Mr. Morris" inspired by "steampunk" - something I had never heard of. This is going to be a stunning piece when it is done.

But what also inspires me when I look at the pictures afterwards are how our hands always show up. I can remember as a child being awed by my maternal Grandmother's hands.

My Mom, Norma Mitchell Paterson and my Granny Mitchell, 1949

She had terrible arthritis in her hands but that didn't stop her, she was always knitting, crocheting, quilting or weaving. Despite the arthritis her hands were always soft and lovely, always busy, I don't remember her ever complaining. Luckily I have about 6 of her quilts, several placemats and a skirt she wove. Granny died when I was 17, I have always wished I could have talked to her about quilts, about knitting socks and I sure could use a crochet refresher!

Yesterday's gathering was just what I needed to get back to my needle and threads. I've found that after the busy-ness of getting ready for Quilt Canada and teaching at Quilt Canada plus just day to day family stuff I was not feeling like quilting or sewing. A rare time for me. So now I have a list - so much has to be accomplished by September 27, our MBQG bi-annual quilt show and then there is my Cove Quilters Challenge to start (an idea would be good!) and so much more. Time to get to work!