September 24th Meeting Update

This lovely vintage quilt has been in Marybeth's family for many years.  It is hand quilted and, I believe hand pieced.  This is such a pretty pattern with a classic design it fits right in with quilts we are making today.  I believe this was made by Marybeth's aunt.  Pls let me know if I didn't get that right.

Leng brought another of her Mom's decorative pieces.  The colours and texture were gorgeous as you can see in the close-up below.

Leng decided to duplicate her Mom's construction method and you can see the demo in the video that follows.  You will have to forgive my lack of talent in video production but you will see how they are made and the hours of work that go into each one.
Here is a video of Leng's process.

This is a great trick from Nancy.  Marybeth was doing a big clean out and showed us the HST's she was making from the tiny offcuts from some snowball blocks she had made previously.  Because they start off as corner trimmings it isn't necessary to be really precise about the seam allowance you leave so the triangle "scraps" vary somewhat in size.  When you make a lot of those blocks you end up with lots of ready cut HST's and, being quilters we want to use them in something.  Nancy's trick to turn these into consistently sized HST's is to cut a thin cardboard template of the size finished triangle you want, line it up with the corner as shown and stitch right next to the long edge of the cardboard.  Your seam allowances will vary but your HST's will all be the same size without needing to square them up.

One More Jelly Roll post

 Well, after starting off as a National Jelly Roll Month skeptic I have to admit that I am now a believer.  I just watched this fun video of a Jelly Roll Race event that was hosted by Moda.  Looks like everyone participating was an employee.  All the JR race quilts they made were finished and donated to a charity.

Click here to watch the 7 minute video.

Jelly Roll Quilt Parade

 Even if you never have any desire to make a Jelly Roll quilt you should spend a couple of minutes to watch this very entertaining video from Moda starring their own staff and designers.

Click here for the link to the video.  And for many of the pattern downloads (all free, click here.

Colleen's New JR Pattern

 This quilt is called Topiaries and is from The Canuck Quilter.  

Always being way ahead of the curve, Colleen purchased this pattern as a download  on Saturday to celebrate National Jelly Roll Day and will share if anyone wants to make it too.  She's already read the pattern through and says it's easier than it looks.  It only requires 26 Jelly Roll strips for a quilt that measures 56" x 70" which is a very useful size.  Visit the website for The Canuck Quilter to read more about this quilt and to see it in a couple of other fabric options.

Another Label Idea

 Everyone will be happy to know that all the handmade quilt labels we slaved over went through the wash/dry cycle with no problems.  Whichever pen you used to write them up came out just as crisp and dark as it went in.  Even the satin ribbon labels I printed on my Ink Jet printer came out just fine.  I discovered that one of the Zipper quilts doesn't have a label so I will sew one from the TAQ's on when I do the Project Linus labels.

If you like the idea of enclosing your label in the binding when you sew it on, here is a method that might appeal to you.  They can be made any size to accommodate what you need to include.  If you can manage to print or write quite small you can get everything we include on one of these labels.  The printed satin ribbon labels are quite small and all the info is there. These are like garment labels so you can put the care instructions on the flip side.

Click here for the tutorial.

National Jelly Roll Month

 I'm not sure if the nation really needs a National Jelly Roll Day which was last Saturday, let alone a whole National Jelly Roll Month which is September but if it results in a whole lot of free jelly roll patterns there must be some merit in it at least for quilters.

I do have a couple of jelly rolls on hand which are taking up room around here so one is definitely going to become this Spring Twist quilt from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  

This is just a Rail Fence quilt block with a HST sewn to two alternate corners.  Click here for the free tutorial.  

Here is a similar free pattern called the Jelly Roll Sizzle from The Fat Quarter Shop.  This one uses more strips that are cut longer but the construction method is the same.  Click here for the free pattern download.

I am very tempted to make this one just to use up my collection of animal prints but unfortunately they are not in the form of a jelly roll so that one would take longer.

So, if you have a jelly roll but no pattern for it, this is a good time to do an internet search for free patterns and tutorials.  

What I've learned from washing 14 quilts

 I recently sent Project Linus photos and measurements of 14 of our 27 quilts that are ready for donation.  They contacted me last week to say they would like all of them.  I already knew that Project Linus requires that all donations be laundered and labelled with their labels prior to donation so I decided today to get started on the washing and drying while I wait for their shipment of labels to arrive.

As you know, the fabrics from our quilts have come from our stashes and each of our stashes have fabric from a variety of places--some purchased, some donated and some scraps or precuts.  Some was washed ahead of time and some is not in convenient sizes to make prewashing convenient.  Some of us always prewash and some of us don't.  So you could say the majority of our quilts contain some fabric that wasn't prewashed.

In order to prevent any colours bleeding I was very generous with the Colour Catchers and sorted the quilts into like colour groups.  I used two Colour Catchers per quilt and no detergent.  I washed all the quilts using a gentle cycle, low agitation and with a warm/warm setting for the wash and rinse.  For every load, including all the light coloured and pastel quilts the Colour Catchers came out very stained.  But the biggest surprise was that one of the quilts had some serious bleeding with a big blue stain on the back and multiple problems on the front.  This was a quilt that I had made and, while all the yardage was prewashed, the scraps and small pieces were not.  I was pretty horrified but decided to rewash it using some detergent this time.  I was very relieved to see the stains were gone.  

I've mentioned that the majority of quilters in my Virtual Guild, which is based in California but has a worldwide membership, prewash their quilts before donating them.  This is a new concept to most of us but, something I would recommend if you are not in the habit of prewashing your fabrics.  There's a lot of work that goes into a quilt only to have it ruined after the first wash.

By the way, all of our quilts are coming out of the dryer lovely and soft and very "quilty" looking.  I'm pretty sold now on prewashing quilts. 

Joyce's Weekend Getaway

Joyce will be away for the next two meetings.  She probably won't have time for a lot of quilting related activities except for recharging here in Kelowna at her friend's house on the lake.  Joyce was just here for a couple of days but what a place to spend a couple of days!  The colours in this photo would inspire a beautiful quilt.

September 17 2024 Meeting Report

Leng's Star Wars Ewok hand puppet

Betty's Darth Vader 

A sewing tip from Darth

Leng had these two amazing hand made mats that she brought back from her recent family visit back home to Kuala Lumpur.  Leng's Mom has been sewing ever since Leng can remember and still has quilt tops and other treasures hidden around her house.  We were totally fascinated with the precision needed to construct these and worked out that the folded satin petals were arranged around the circle backing and stitched around the perimeter in rows decreasing in circumference till the center is done and topped with a yoyo.  This is not a typical handicraft from Kuala Lumpur, just something that Leng's Mom discovered and made her own.  

Leng had her heart set on this one and finally managed to convince her Mom to part with it.  Sorry for the quality of the photo.  I wish the six white petals in the centers of the spirals were more clear.  Each one has a center with an orange dot which was made by folding a polka dotted fabric of just the right size so that the dot ended up right in the center.  This is really amazing precision work and Leng's Mom does not use a pattern to make them.  

Here is another of Leng's Mom's projects that Leng brought back with her.  Nancy recognized the block in this quilt as the Economy Block with an Hourglass in the center.  All cut out with scissors but this quilt would pass the "modern" designation easily.  A really cheerful quilt that Leng plans to sandwich, quilt and finish off.

This is Nancy's 4th Mystery Quilt from The Modern Quilt Studio.  The goal was to learn about creating transparency in a quilt and the teachers recommended purchasing the kit as the easiest way to getting the colours and shades right.  Nancy did that and ended up with this beautiful quilt.  The transparency shows up really well in the photo.  One thing the photo doesn't show clearly is that these were all prints.  Trying to come up with the right shades from prints for a transparency project and on a mystery quilt would be next to impossible so working from a kit would save a big headache.   You can get a better idea of the prints and how the transparency was achieved in the next photo.

Here is Nancy's amazing backing fabric and she cleverly inserted her pieced "cheat sheet" that she used to keep her print gradations organized.  

Nancy promised to let us know when the next Mystery Quilt is available in case any of us are up for a challenge.  It's a good way to learn something new and have fun with a mystery quilt at the same time.  If you want to sign up for the company's newsletter you can click here to get to their website, The Modern Quilt Studio.
 

We talked about moving the meeting for October 8th to Wednesday, October 9th so that Sharon could attend.  Please let Joyce know if you cannot attend on that day.  We will be celebrating Joyce's birthday with Michi at her new residence.

Just in time for Halloween

 Do you know about the book, The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt?

It is provided as a free read along as a Youtube video via Reading Rocket or if you want to buy as a gift to accompany a child's quilt it is available in Canada through Indigo.  For ages 3-5 yrs, $24.99.  A free quilt pattern is available at this website or I can send you a PDF via email.

Patchwork Addict to the rescue

Click on the picture for a larger view

 These three pants belong to Riley, 5 years old and a new kindergarten student at Pitt Meadows Elementary School.  Like all 5 year olds he's a busy kid and wears through the knees on his pants so Sharon our Patchwork Addict came to the rescue.  Looks like the TAQ's may be starting some new trends with the younger generation. 

Darth Vader finished

 Here's Betty's finished puppet all ready for Fabricana Star Wars production.

Amazing!  But can you do the voice, Betty?

Photos from Leng's trip

 Leng is back from her trip to Kuala Lumpur to visit with her family.  It's been four years since their last reunion.  Here are some pictures of her family and the neighbourhood where she stayed.

Leng and her Mom

Leng's siblings and their kids

The guard house, taken from the 5th floor of her brother's apartment

Surroundings of the complex

Taken from across the street

Neighbourhood shops and homes above

Neighbourhood shops

Street food stalls.  Very common in Kuala Lumpur

More food stalls

Colleen's back to school lunch bags

 The twins are in grade 2 this year so Colleen made them each a special lunch bag.

Astronauts and planets--all the kids will want them.

More celestial prints on the inside.

Warren on the left, Liam on the right checking out their new lunch bags.

All spruced up and read for Day 1, Grade 2.

Sharon's Blue Period

 Sharon reported that she has been busy running back and forth to the fabric store for "finishing pieces" for her blue quilts.  This, as we all know has resulted in lots of blue leftovers in her stash.  So, in order to practice Joyce's and Nancy's techniques from our tutorials a few weeks ago Sharon created this charming little quilt.  

Lots of pretty details in this Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.  Note the "snowballed" corners.  Looks like this could have been a Quilt as You Go construction.  I hope we get to see these quilts up close one day.

Beautiful log cabin with applique.  Looks like there is a matching cushion as well.  This looks like a wall hanging at the head of the bed.

Nancy on retreat

 Nancy has just returned from a three day retreat on Lopez Island in Washington with her sister and a friend.  This looks like a beautiful location for a peaceful getaway but no doubt there were some projects discussed and worked on, Nancy being the Thread Gangster.  Nancy, can you give us some details about the ferry ride.  How long is the trip and where does it leave from, etc.

Their house is on the right in the photo.

Here is the beautiful view from their house.

Betty's Darth Vader Puppet

 Betty made this hand puppet of Darth Vader for a party that the Fabricana ladies are having as a send off to one of their group who is moving on to a teaching position.  Dee is writing a Star Wars play and they are all performing it with their hand puppets.  Betty still needs to paint Darth's head black and then he's all finished.  We hope there will be some photos posted here of the play and festivities.  

Does this call for name tags?

 Joyce started our day off today with this Quilting Name game.  Our new names are below.  Quite a few addicts and gangsters in the group--but in a good way.

            Adrienne    Log Cabin Gangster

            Nancy        Thread Gangster

            Colleen      Scrap Ninja

            Leng           Batting Mama

            Betty           Precut Gangster

            Sue              Patchwork Superstar

            Joyce           Pinwheel Genius

            Penny          Stitching Addict

            Sharon         Patchwork Addict

            Pauline        Stitching Addict

            Marybeth     Fabric Ninja

Pop Up Shop - Mark your calendar

 Carola is having a Pop Up Shop at Century House, 620 8th Street in New Westminster from 1 - 3 on Saturday, October 19th.  Everyone welcome.  Invite your friends.

Colleen Honoured at PSQG

 Here is a photo I took tonight of Colleen (90), along with our two other "nonagenarians", Irene Harvalias (90) and Mary Shore (93) who were recognized tonight for their contribution to our guild and their many years of contributing to the local quilting community.  Yay, Colleen!

It was a measuring oopsie but can fix it at Marybeth’s! j

Apparently there’s been a little “oopsie” in our new quilt, easily fixable, so, will leave it as is on the dining room table! J

 What was the "oopsie", Joyce?  I guess something we all missed.

PH 

Hate making buttonholes?

 Sometimes even quilters have to make buttonholes.  Here is a pretty easy method to avoid all the zig zagging and attachments.  The results are adaptable to almost any project.  I'll add it to the Tips and Tutorials page for easy reference when you need it.

Click on the box in the lower left of video to view full screen.

September 10th Meeting Update

 

One of several baby quilts Penny has on the go.  Just a little more binding left to go on this one.

Quilted with diagonal and vertical lines

Another baby quilt from a very cute print.

Detail of quilting which will be edge to edge diagonal lines in a cross hatched pattern.

Work has commenced on Joyce's latest baby quilt.  Betty wowing us with her precision cutting with her new Stripology ruler.  We all want one now.

This photo says it all--how many people look this happy ironing?  Sue is working on piecing the flannel backing for Joyce's baby quilt.

Assembly line in action.  Betty is assembling the three strips for the pieced blocks, Joyce is stitching them and...

Colleen is pressing the seams.  I have the hard job of taking the pictures and supervising.

Here is the finished layout although a border might be added once it is pieced.

Close up of charming cat and mouse prints.  Really adorable fabrics which Joyce got at Fabricana.

Colleen proposed this Tiny Alpine Village as a group project for the fall some time.  We have patterns and supplies.  This will not put a dent in your scraps but is something that can be done from start to finish in a couple of hours.  It's all fusible applique with or without a fine tulle overlay.  Colleen and I have made several of these.

  

Colleen made some really charming lunch bags by request for the twin boys on the Sunshine Coast.  Photos should be posted later today of her project and we may have some photos with the boys when they receive them.

Early in the meeting Betty and Joyce had us in stitches about their harrowing experiences on the Carousel at Burnaby Village Museum.  Joyce claims they are speeding it up every year.  I think we might have to challenge ourselves one day, maybe combine a lunch at Hart House and a ride on the Carousel.  A possibility for our Christmas celebration?  There are benches on the carousel for the faint hearted.  

Here is an interesting Youtube video about the Carousel and if you play it right to the end you will see how fast the Carousel can really go.  To view full screen, click on the box in the lower left of the video.