Magpie Quilts

This was made for a Christmas gift and because I didn't want it to be seen ahead of time, I haven't posted it yet - just a sneak peek on my Facebook page . I've had these bright colours here for a while and love the way they pop with a gray background!  This size of table runner is so versatile - here it is on my dresser as a dresser scarf - great bedroom accent piece!  Quilting is kept simple with a meandering all-over machine quilted pattern.  And binding is machine stitched to the back and then top-stitches to the front. And backed with a muted lavender print! I hope the recipient was happy when she opened this gift! --Ann

This bright colored quilt was finished today for my grand-daughter. She's the one busy making art in the picture below! Charm square quilt Beautiful artist! These are the fat quarters of fabric I started with and the photo on the right is what I originally thought I'd make. I cut each fat quarter into a couple 2.25" strips for binding and the rest into 5" charm squares. (I've lost my work sheet that I used to figure it all out, so there are no exact instructions here today!) I love my design wall because I can see the whole design before I sew anything together. In this case, the layout was just too busy for me - it came down rather quickly as it seemed to jar my senses every time I looked at it. After some rearranging and rethinking the design, this was the final result! 5" charm squares separated by 2.5"x5" strips of white Kona cotton, put together in rows. Normally I send my bed size quilts out to be quilted, but this quilt was

Maple Leaf Seasons Mini Quilt Summer leaf details Here's the finish on the Season's Mini Quilt that I posted about earlier this month. The maple leaf block is one I've used many times, but this time I didn't piece the stem. Instead, I machine stitched the veins in the leaves and the stem with a variegated green thread and then did a close stippling on the sky blue background. I'm still waiting patiently for the quilt my partner made for me and will post it here as soon as I get it! --Ann 

 Just came back from the Post Office where I sent these quilts off to their new home in Texas! It's so exciting to see where my quilts are ending up and these bright blue quilts were a pleasure to make. These photos are taken in our basement guest room which was repainted earlier this year from a chocolate brown to a creamy white. The room is much brighter now and the neutral colour means I can now take photos of my quilts there. I still need to make curtains for the window and am thinking that just a plain bleached muslin fabric would be perfect with a little black trim or  embroidery to add some detail. Blue Tempest #1 Blue Tempest #2 The pattern chosen by the customer was the Tempest from Cherry House Quilts . Isn't it gorgeous here in shades of purple Kona cottons? The pattern was lost in transit and so I just improvised so I could get these quilts completed, but Cherri is resending, so I'll have a copy soon! Cherri is the author of the quilt b

My Little Chickadees from HoneynCloves  I think I've burnt out on making quilted stuff for my Etsy shop and am ready to make a few things for myself! I recently bought this little chickadee wool kit off Etsy from HoneynCloves and I hope to piece it together over the holidays. Just a little low key, relaxing handwork. Four Seasons Mini Quilt Swap on Flickr And I did sign up for another mini quilt swap on Flickr and the due date was November 30. I had lots of wonderful ideas in my head and thought I'd have plenty of time to finish this, but only got it done today! Here's a peek and you'll see the whole quilt when my swap partner receives it. And here's the link to the Flickr Mini QT group so you can see the other mini's that were swapped! Blue Tempest Quilt ( pattern from Cherry House ) The twin custom quilts and pillow shams are at Blueberry Hill Quilts in Chestermere, Alberta to be quilted by Marie. Someone asked me about the pattern last week a

I've been working over the past month collecting blue fabrics and now piecing them together for a custom quilt order for a Texas customer. She has ordered two twin quilts complete with pillow shams for her son's room. Stacks of Blue Just a few blocks done I love these shades of blue - they make me think about sailing on the ocean! I have one quilt top done today and the other will be done tomorrow and then they are off to Marie of Blueberry Hill Quilts to be quilted! --Ann I am linking with Quiltsy WIP Wednesday #38 and The Needle and Thread Network WIP Wednesday #67

Unfortunately, our first winner did not get back to me with an address! So that means I can make someone else's day and choose a new winner. SUE EDDY - You are a WINNER! I will be trying to get in touch with you for somewhere to send these lovely placemats and napkins! --Ann

Continuing the shop local highlights, I would like to introduce Heather from Piggy and Bear. Her outfits for little girls and boys are adorable and I'm so happy to share her creations with you. Cupcake Cuties Mother Daughter Aprons Etsy shop: www.piggyandbear.etsy.com Facebook:  www.facebook.com/pages/Piggy-and-Bear/151624034879630 Twitter: www.twitter.com/piggy_and_bear 1.    Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about how you started creating. My name is Heather.  I live in Calgary, Alberta.  I worked in television news for many years, and I'm currently a stay at home mom of two beautiful children, ages 3 and 5.  When I became a mom it was a big priority for me to learn to sew.  I wanted to create unique and special pieces for them as my mother had for me and my siblings when we were small.  I love to sew, it's become my passion!  It is also therapeutic for me as I've had Rheumatoid Arthritis since I was a teenager.  Sewing and crocheting really he

Some quilts are completed quickly and others need time to percolate and age before they are finished. This one block wonder quilt was one that needed time. I rarely take classes, preferring to spend my $ on fabric than techniques I can learn online or through a book. My local quilt store, Along Came Quilting offered this class a few years ago and I loved the sample and signed up! The first part of constructing this quilt was the hexagons that are made from little triangles. 6 layers of fabric were layered so that the pattern was matched on all 6 layers. With a new blade in the rotary cutter, strips were cut and then triangles and each set of six identical pieces were pinned together so they wouldn't get mixed up. The second part was the 3-D blocks that are set into the background of kaleidoscope hexagons. These were fun to make, but difficult to incorporate into the background. There was a lot of playing with pieces on the design wall to come up with a final design that w

I am a scrap fabric hoarder saver and this past week I took out my string fabric scraps. Strips of fabric that are larger than 3/4" and smaller than 2" are perfect for string quilts. I used some of my scraps up last year in this quilt that was made with a blocks from my online quilting friends: Scrappy strings Baby Quilt But I still have quite a few left and thought I'd use them for some craft sale projects. First thing I did was separate the strips by colour Scrappy Strings ready to sew  And on a piece of batting that was about 7"x9", I started sewing strips down, quilting as I went. The first strip goes on right side up and then the next strip right sides down on top of the first strip, lining up the edges. Sew a 1/4" seam and press open. Repeat on both sides of the first strip until the batting is covered. Adding string scraps to batting Trim square - I trimmed mine to 6.5"x8.5". Add backing fabric and bind as you would a normal

23 comments, 44 blog followers and 93 Facebook likers that aren't related for 160 entries! Thanks so much for all your encouragement and comments - I really appreciate each and every one of you and enjoy giving something away to show that appreciation. I made a list, checked it twice and gave every comment a number, every blog follower a number and every Facebook liker a number! Then I went over to Random.org to generate a random number and this is what showed up: Back to my lists and the winner is: Congratulations Zita! I will be in touch with you to see where I can send your prize! Thanks everyone! I hope we can do this again real soon! --Ann Edited November 5, 2012 to add: If Zita does not contact me by the end of the day, Wednesday, November 7, I will be drawing a new number for a new winner!

If you haven't entered to win the fall placemat and napkin set that will be given away on October 25, 2012 - click here and enter a comment . And if you want to make your own set, here's the how-to: PLACEMAT AND NAPKINS Materials Needed for 1 placemat and 1 napkin: .5 yard (meter) Fabric A (front) .5 yard (meter) Fabric B (border and backing fabric) low loft batting 16"x20" (40.5cm x 51cm) From Fabric B, cut 1x 18.5"x22" rectangle (placemat) From Fabric B, cut 1x 18.5"x18.5" square (napkin) Iron under 1/2" on all 4 sides on both pieces of Fabric B.  Mark a point 3" (napkins, use 2") from each corner and draw a line joining the points. Fold the corner in half right sides together and stitch along the drawn line, repeat on the other 3 corners. Trim seams to 3/8", turn right sides out and press. This is the backing and the mitred border all done in one step! Cut batting and Fabric A 3/16" s