American/Canadian Thanksgiving

The view out our window this morning. I think the frost is even thicker now...so beautiful and Christmas-like.


We are invited to our friend's place in North Dakota to celebrate American Thanksgiving a couple of days late because we Canadians didn't get Thursday off work. My contribution is Pumpkin pies, lemon meringue pie, chocolate pecan bourbon pie and bourbon cranberry sauce.

Fabric Therapy

I went to Winnipeg today and managed to get in a bit of fabric shopping. The blue at the top is destined to be sky in some more house blocks and the white at the top will be snow. The white at the bottom could also be snow and the green has little flowers so will be good for grass. The pink dots on brown were just irresistible and on sale so what could I do?

Stormy Weather

Snowy weather is perfect for quilting. I have made several more blocks with the Kokopeli. I arranged it so that the black with white dots appear to be coming out of the flute like musical notes. I am dyeing some turquoise for the sashing but now I'm thinking the gold musical notes that I got for the cool cats might be a better choice...


Our studio is cold on the outside but toasty warm inside.

Another one Done

I finished the binding on this one this morning. It is the first one I have done with polar fleece on the back. I really prefer cotton fabric and batting. It's easier to handle on the frame and I like the weight of it better.
I added a row of silver rick rack to separate the houses from the border.


I started this one today. I got the Kokopeli fabric in Santa Fe earlier this year. I am auditioning sashing fabrics. I lean toward the turquoise but will have to dye some more.

More Houses

I sewed the houses together using a different coloured stripe than the one I auditioned yesterday. Once I had them all together I realized it was going to be too short so I started making more houses. Unfortunately, I ran out of the cute dotted blue fabric so the rest of the skies are darker and slightly ominous. I will add three more houses to the top and then use the striped fabric as a border. I will still need another border to make it large enough. I'm not sure yet what color that will be. Am I tired of making houses? Not yet!

Pastel?

For a baby quilt contest I thought I should make one with some pastels. This is it so far.

Art Day (With Cooking)

Yesterday two of my friends and I had an art and cooking day. We made some cheese (not totally successful because we let the milk for the feta get too hot). Last time I was in China town I bought a soup mix that had all the instructions in Chinese. We decided to give it a try. This picture is the broth steeping. We had no idea what any of the ingredients were but it smelled great.


Add a few vegetables and voila, a tasty and (I hope) nutritious soup.
In the studio we played with stamps, paintsticks and stencils. I also did a bit of machine quilting on my latest quilt. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the house. It was a fun day.

Houses

I got the houses put together with the yellow sashing. I don't like the lower right area but not sure what to do about it. The yellow is too wide there. Maybe I can fill it with quilting or applique something on there. The border looks quite dark in the photo but in real life it's quite bright.

Fabric

I went to Winnipeg yesterday and of course, had to stop at a fabric store. I got these four pieces of fabric. I like the bright yellow the best. It has very subtle leaves and ferns on it.


I bring my hibiscus plant outside for the summer. When I bring it in it always goes crazy flowering. Besides the two flowers, it has 11 buds.

Baby Houses

They extended the baby blanket contest for an extra week so I thought I'd enter another one if I can get it finished in time. I made these houses today. I'll use quite wide sashing because they are all different sizes. That way I can also bring it up to the required 40 inch size. The fabric on the left is my first audition for the sashing and borders. It looked not bad in the studio but now that I see it on my monitor, I don't like it much. It's too busy and will detract from the houses. I want it to look baby-like but not pink or blue. I have a nice bright yellow that may work or some dot fabric. Or I may break down and buy new fabric if I don't find the perfect one in my stash.

Cool Cats

Here are the Cool Cats pieced together. I don't have enough music fabric to make the back so I may have to piece some other fabrics together. I'll quilt it with loops and maybe some music notes thrown in.

Froggy Day

I am almost finished this quilt for a baby blanket contest being held by our local radio station. The winner gets a nice new sewing machine. Then the blankets will be auctioned off to benefit our local hospital. Either way there are winners!


And the back.

Cool Cats Encore

Sorry for such a dark picture. I have made a few more cats but meanwhile have been working on a baby quilt for a contest. I'm not sure if I am allowed to show it before the contest ends so you'll have to wait until the end of November to see it.
The cats are coming right along. I'm not sure about the top right one. I find the blue strips too light for the rest of the blocks. I may go at it with paintsticks and if that doesn't work I'll just discard it. The sashing will be the same musical fabric as I used on the mice.

Today's Baking

I pre-baked a pie crust for a lemon pie a few days ago so it was time to bake it today. I don't like to heat up the oven for just one thing so I made these savory muffins that turned out to be very, very tasty. I got the recipe at Cooks.com

Cool Cats

The cat apartment is all quilted, bound and ready for the hand sewing.


These cats are from the same fabric as the mice in Musical Mice. They are a bit too big to fit in the doorways of my houses so they get a crazy block instead. I'll be adding sashing, probably the music fabric from the Musical Mice.

Musical Mice

I went with Musical Mice. I liked Mouse Minuet but it seemed too formal for these mice. They are more Blues Mice, which, now that I think of it, would have been a good title too. I found the perfect musical fabric for the border at our LQS. I added a thin strip of gold ribbon, which looks silver in the photo for some reason, just inside the border. It's finished now and in the queue for the quilting machine.
Next I'm going to work on some Musical Cats that were on the same fabric. They are much bigger though so they won't be in houses. I like small characters for the houses. The cats will be in wonky log cabin blocks a bit like the bugs were. Stay tuned...

Which Words?

I can go horizontal or vertical. I can use either Musical Mice or Mouse Music.


I want to find some fabric with musical notes or some other music theme to use as sashing.

Cat Apartment

This is the quilt I finished for the friend whose mother had pieced it. It is huge. It barely fit on my frame. It is beautiful although not my style. I quilted it with all over loops.


This is the cat wall hanging made into a cat apartment as suggested by my critique group. I decided not to put any horizontal lines in the side strips to keep the apartment look. I had to search a long time through my stash to find the right fabric for the roof. Now to decide how to quilt it. I'll probably do this one on my DSM because it's quite small, only about 10 inches by about one yard long.

Musical Mice

I found some fabric with cats and mice playing musical instruments. The mice are a lot smaller than the cats so they are getting houses built around them. The cats may end up in the middle of wonky log cabins or some other setting. Meanwhile, the mice are practising for their next gig.

Pattern Making

Pattern Making For a Perfect Fit

If you have an item of clothing that is a perfect fit but is worn out, or you would just like another one in a different color, this is the book for you. Steffani Lincecum shows you how to "rub off" a pattern without destroying the original. She shows two methods, one using paper and the other using muslin.
The first section explains the two methods and then goes on to discuss the tools and equipment, fabrics, measuring and even how to estimate the yardage needed.
The rest of the book goes into details of patterning skirts, dresses, blouses and even handbags. She not only tells you how to make the pattern, she goes into detail on how to construct the garment and how to re-style parts of it for a new look. For example, in the blouse section you can convert the pointed collar to a round one, or change the blouse into a halter top or tunic.
In the handbag section she takes a pattern from the source purse and makes several different looks by changing the fabric, handles and details.
It is well illustrated and the instructions are clear and consise. I did a lot of garment sewing before I started quilting and I would have loved to own this book back then. If you enjoy sewing garments but are tired of buying patterns that don't fit, this is the book for you.