Modern Mini Swap

The Calgary Modern Quilt Guild challenged us all to create a modern mini quilt, and at the last meeting, we exchanged them.

You'll recall that the one I made was my idea of a spring theme - windmills.



I thought the quilting looked like wind blowing.

In exchange, I received this lovely -- made by Corina:

The pattern is Puddle Jumpers -- again, a great spring theme.  And, in my favourite colours too!

I've already put it to use.

The weather here has smartened up considerably since my last post.  Spring is arriving!

Modern Mini

The Calgary Modern Quilt Guild is having a Mini swap this month.  I took it as a good opportunity to do my own design, and also to practice my free motion quilting.

I usually sew down my binding to the front, then hand stitch it to the back.  I have tried doing it the other way, and machine stitching to the front, but found the fabric bunched up a bit and the stitching was not as neat as I'd like it.  This time -- and I have no idea where I heard of this -- I used a line of white school glue and my iron to baste down the binding on the front.  It held really well, and I was able to stitch it down pretty neatly.  What do you know?

Here's the finished mini - it's 16 x 16:

Charity Blocks

I made these a long time ago, but forgot to write about them.

At the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild, we are making charity quilts for bone marrow transplant patients at the local cancer hospital.  We've decided to make blocks, each 15 1/2 inches, so that we can use them to practice our free motion quilting skills.  We've had a couple of good demonstrations by Andrea at Urban Quiltworks.  (Take a look at the quilting on her blog - she is fabulously talented!)

Then, we're going to put them together using the quilt as you go method.

I know you'll be surprised to hear that I had a couple, OK lots of blocks in my UFO piles.  I selected a couple from a BOM I started years ago, and truthfully, will never finish.  I added a little extra fabric to make them 15 1/2 inches, and tried to stretch myself a bit with the quilting.

You can see a bit of the blue marking pen in the centre of this one - I did manage to get that out before I handed it in.  It's the first time I've used that, and it's not as easy as I thought to remove it!

Unexpected Holiday

Despite living in Canada, and experiencing regular snowfalls, we, in Calgary, never have a Snow Day - not in the 23 years I have lived here.  It snows -- we carry on.  We're late; we have car accidents; we go to work anyway.  I work at the court house, and we do not shut down.  Last year, as you may recall, Calgary suffered major flooding in June.  Parts of downtown were under water.  But the court house wasn't, and I went to work.  (To be fair, we told many of our staff to stay home, and stayed open only long enough to adjourn all of the matters scheduled for that day.)

But, yesterday and today, we have been shut down.  There was a major electrical fire in the downtown and several blocks are without power.  So I get to stay home!  Yay!

What to do?  Well, I did have some yeast in the cupboard that was in danger of expiry.  So, I made some bread.

Then, I made some cinnamon buns.

I did some reading and podcast listening.

And, oh ya - I did some quilting too!  The Calgary Modern Quilt Guild is collecting 15 1/2 inch quilted blocks, then we're going to put them together for charity quilts.  I just happened to have some blocks laying around from my early days of quilting, when I was "trying stuff".  Add an extra bit of fabric to bring it up to size, and had some fun trying some new quilting designs, including doing a spiral with my walking foot.

All in all, a very nice way to spend a couple of surprise free days!

Potholder Exchange

Our most recent challenge at the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild was to make a potholder for an exchange.

Being the Type A personality that I am, I couldn't just throw something together.  I spent most of the month looking on the internet for inspiration, coming up with one idea after another, then dismissing them, and panicking as the time ticked by.

Finally I had a brainwave!  I have been saving 2 inch squares as leaders and enders.  AND, I have been interested in making a granny square block (but not interested enough to make a granny square quilt), so why not make a granny square potholder!

So, here's what I came up with:

Turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself!  The square turned out to be 7 inches, which I thought was a bit small, so I added on an extra strip around the outside to make it 8 inches. A layer of thermal plus a layer of regular batting, a quick stitch in the ditch and a machine sewn binding, and it was done in about 3 hours!

We had our guild meeting last week, but we had SO many new members that it was decided to hold the exchange over for one more month, in case the newbies wanted to join in.  So, I haven't received my exchanged potholder yet - I'll report back next month with a photo.

Scrappy Sunday

At my  new guild, we are having a scrap exchange at the next meeting.  We are to bring bags of 2 1/2 inch squares.  As these things tend to progress, there was only a little interest at first, but as the day approaches, the event is growing exponentially!

This has been great for me, as I have a LOT of scraps.  I've been pulling out the smaller pieces and cutting them into squares.

If they aren't big enough for 2 1/2 inches, I've cut them into 2 inch ones for a leaders and enders project I've been graduallly working on for a couple years.

Once I cut a bunch, I sorted them into piles of 50.

 Three hundred cut so far, but I'm not done yet!

I have no idea what I'm going to do with all the scraps I'll be getting back in this exchange.  But I'm sure I can think of something!

Linking up with Mary at Sew Sunday and Kim for Scrap Basket Sunday.

Nametag

At the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild meeting that I attended last month, we were told to make a nametag for the May meeting.  At first I was stumped.  Most of the nametags that I have worn have been about 2 inches by 3 inches, and I had no idea how to make something quilty that was that small, and still left room for my name.

But at the conference I went to last weekend, we were given fairly large nametags; pouches actually, with room to store a flash drive and one of those little voting things that seem to be so popular now with the powerpoint crowd.  It hung around our neck, rather than being pinned on.  When I saw it, I had an "aha" moment!

So, I made a tiny churn dash block - 3 inches, and added an extra bit of fabric to write my name on.  A couple strips of colourful stripes for binding and straps, and I was done.

Or so I thought.  I then remembered that I had some sewing themed buttons that I had bought on a whim.  Why not?  I added the scissors, sewing machine - and that little orange blob is a thimble.  Finished!

And that is all the sewing I have done this weekend.  Spring has finally arrived here, and I had to spend some time outside!

I'm linking up with Mary for Sew Sunday.

The Second Half of the Story

So, I mentioned yesterday that I met up with Mary (Outside the Line) to collect my giveaway.  When we were discussing where to meet, she said that she was going to the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild meeting on Thursday, and would I like to meet her there?  That was a serendipitous question!

You see, I had been wanting to join a quilt guild for awhile, but for some reason, guilds in Calgary seem to be very hard to find.  (Try googling Calgary quilt guild - the only one with a webpage is the Modern Quilt Guild.)  There is a group that meets at my community centre - on Wednesday mornings.  That darn "making a living" thing prevents me from attending that group.  I had been thinking about the Modern Quilt Guild, but I wouldn't classify myself as a modern quilter.  I have made a couple modernish projects, and I love looking at them, but I also make traditional quilts.  I just like them all!

But, I took Mary up on her offer, and went with her to the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild meeting.  And met a group of fun, welcoming women.  They didn't give me a test to find out if I fit in their niche.  So, I do believe I will go back.

Thanks Mary!

Now, today, I am off to Ujamaa Grandmas annual Fabric and Yarn sale - and I hope to come home with some fabric bargains!