Collaboration and quilts

OH -- I'm a scammer! I did NOT dust any teapots yesterday! 

I arrived at the apartment and decided to work on the binding (edge) of that hexagon quilt while I finished drinking my tea. I'm a slow drinker. 

Well, then, we got a call that someone (the lady who used to rent the farm) was coming to visit, so that preempted any teapot dusting. Once she and her new beau left (her husband has passed away), it was time to head out to visit one more aunt, and well, there just wasn't time to dust those teapots. Oh my-- what a shame. 

I have something to look forward to for the next trip! LOL!! 

I'm happy to say I got a lot of paperwork cleared up for them, and it all got filed last night, except for two things: one concerns an upcoming appointment, and the other is pending a response from someone else. That's pretty good. I mean, we are not talking a ton of stuff, but it's niggling things they get in the mail and have no idea how to deal with. 

That is all put to bed now until the next time I come. Oh, what fun! But it's so much less than it was in the last couple of years, so all is good. 

There are so many things I'd love to do or teach, but we must not let our lives become too complicated and overrun with projects when we are all trying to downsize. Here's an FYI about the Elizabeth Hartman pattern. When I sat down to chat with some friends at the Saskatoon show, someone pulled out this pattern that they had just purchased! 

Elizabeth Hartman Show and Tell pattern

I know it is available as a PDF, but I like patterns. I will get my copy next week when I pick up an order that has been on hold for me. I will NOT start the pattern, and I will not offer it up as a class until next year. I want to give all of us a fair shake and get things done, so once Colour My World is done (June), the fall is fair game to start something new. I know—there will likely be something new at that time, but that's OK. How many people are going to jump right into this, besides Becky! And I owe her a wee job that I didn't do while traveling, so maybe at the airport, or even this morning, I can see what I can do. 

And now, an update on the scrap quilt session. At this point, I'm thinking of having a ONE-HOUR Zoom. My goal is not so much to teach new material but to serve as a moderator/compiler of existing material. The plan is that everyone who participates will present at least ONE of their favorite scrap quilts. (I know it will be tough to choose only one.) And then I know everyone has excellent tips for storing, cutting, and sewing scraps, and I want to share them all with each other. If we can't fit it into one hour, then we'll have a second session. If you are currently NOT a scrap quilt and have no favorite or tips, then you will for sure want to attend to get all the information! There will be a small fee, as I envision it will take some work to compile the information.  

I have seen some amazing scrap quilts—they are my favorite—and it would be fun to have a "catalogue" of easy, FREE patterns or styles. I can't wait to find a date and go with it. I'm thinking early January, so we are all fired up to get sewing in the new year. Watch the blog for more details. 

I got to meet my new third cousin yesterday. He's now three months old. Shoot, I didn't get a picture. But oh my, it's been a long time since I held a baby in my arms. ACK - it feels awkward! But he's a little cutey and a pretty good baby. He's growing like a weed and has the cutest BIG dimple on his chin. 

I decided to post some more pictures of quilts from the Saskatoon Quilt Show. And both of the quilts are ribbon winners, and they belong to people I know and have met! 

OH—sorry—there are three quilts, and the first one didn't win a ribbon, but it's cute. 

Look at this adorable woodland creature quilt. It's appliqué using minky for the animals. And it's custom quilted by Cathy H. She is a master at using her computerized long arm to custom quilt. I know how to operate my computer, but Cathy knows how to make hers sing! 

Catappliquéliqué quilt

OH _- I just read the label -- it's an original design!! You can always click on a picture to make it larger if you can't read it. I had to! 

The label for Cathy's quilt

And Colette (Cathy's friend) knows how to paint —look what she did with the eyes and nose. That is amazing and adds so much to the quilt. A great collaboration, even if Cathy did most of the work. 

Look at the facial detail!

The next quilt was made by Colette and mostly quilted by Cathy. These ladies work very well together, and they are fortunate to have each other! This is a reasonably large quilt with loads of challenges. If memory serves me correctly, as I'm not sure all this is on the label, the background was pieced by Colette and then quilted by Cathy—again, custom —at least with different quilting in the sky than in the grass. Then the tree was appliquéd on, and I think that was quilted. Then Colette had the fun task of adding the leaves (cut on her digital cutter), and stitched in place. OH -- and when the quilting happened for the bike, Cathy got creative and added the bike spokes, and Colette had to appliquélique the bike to match the quilting. Something like that. It was a very custom job and a great collaboration between two friends. 

Colette's quilt

The label

Can you imagine doing all appliquéliqué on a quilt that's already quilted? It must have taken a very long time. I know it did, because I followed Colette on that journey, and the results are stunning!! GREAT JOB!!!!

Details of Colette's quilt

An appliquédiqued leaf

While the quilt didn't win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, it received an honorable mention, indicating the committee had a tough time deciding. There was no HM in many categories. Colette, Cathy—great job on the quilt. I had seen pictures of it, but seeing it in person, you can really appreciate the work. 

Colette's Honourable Mention

And the last quilt for today is Cathy's Tula Pink Butterfly. 

Tula Pink Butterfly quilt

This won first place in Traditional Pieced, Moveable Machine Quilted Large category. Congratulations Cathy!!!!

FIRST PLACE

The quilting on this quilt is spectacular. I believe this was a purchased pattern that was then quilted on the quilt. Do not, for one instance, think that this was easy. Even with the purchased quilt design, the placement of it and the precision required to make it fit are huge! As I mentioned, Cathy has the talent and knowledge to pull this off. 

There is only one slight detail that I want her to change! Yep—she needs to just say THANK YOU when anyone compliments her work. Her work is brilliant, and just because you have a computerized long arm doesn't mean you can do the same thing. You could, but can you? There is a difference. Her quilting on the machine is fantastic. 

The great quilting is also an indication of the piecing. If the piecing is greatly off, a pattern like this won't work well on it!!!

The label

Detail of the quilting

Kudos to Cathy and Colette for your amazing quilts!! 

Oh, someone asked about the bread fabric. It's in the car at the moment. I'll grab the information off the selvage, but you can buy it at MaMi's Country Quilts. They are located in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan. Everyone has told me I need to visit that store, and I never even think about it when I'm here. After seeing their booth, I need to go. It's fantastic, and they do a lot of pattern design in their shop. If I remember correctly, it's a young girl doing the designing. Yeah, for the youth—they will save quilting. 

Duck Lake is in the news—if you haven't heard—and not because there is a fantastic quilt store. NO -- the town wants to sell the naming rights to their town to raise money. It's a very bizarre idea. I say find another way to inject cash into your city than by selling naming rights. What happens when that sponsor decides to opt out? 

Perhaps, they need to look at Hamilton, Missouri, and see what they did. There is already a facility for retreats -- why can't this store in the middle of nowhere become a famous quilt destination? Hmm --- I need to send them a note. OH GOD -- I had some time to kill this morning, so I wrote them a note and sent them some links. People—we need to get real and take responsibility. They could have a real winner here. And why can't Canadians have their equivalent of Hamilton? 

And if anyone is interested, I woke up early this morning and decided to look up information about the house I used to live in, which is two blocks away. I found it! What can you NOT find on the internet these days? Here is a link to the inside. I'm not a fan of the way it's been decorated, and I'm not even sure that I like all that wood, but it's a beautiful and unusual house (brick) in this area. 

Well, I'm off on another adventure and then need to get my butt to the airport. It is so darn confusing to catch a plane. If I look at my calendar on my laptop (which NEVER changes time zones), the flight is at 4:30. But it's actually at 2:30 in this time zone. So I do NOT look at my computer. I only look at the app on my phone. 

By the way, and I know that many of you are already way ahead of me, but I like to make lists, and I use paper. Well, I moved the NOTES app to the front page on my phone and am now trying to use that. I have a list of emails to send when I get home and things to add to my YouTube channel, which is pretty sad at the moment. So you will have things to watch for there. 

Anyway, I'm trying to become paperless, but that won't happen overnight —I can try. 

So if you are interested in the scrap class (for lack of a better word), then contemplate what your go-to scrap quilt pattern is and what would be your favorite tip (s). Once I get the distribution list for this, I'll be sending more details. This way, I can compile the tips and quilts, so we don't have duplicates. I'll put it together in a PDF, and we'll have a fantastic reference for the new year to get to work on our scraps and scrap quilts! I can hardly wait for that! 

If all goes well, I'll be home tonight and the blog will carry on tomorrow. If it's late or missing, then something happened. But all will be good. I have faith!

On that note, I'm out of here. I have to figure out how to get my big (but not heavy) suitcase up the narrow, steep stairs. I should be fine!

WAIT -- I forgot to tell you that with all the visiting I did yesterday at the apartment, I finished ONE COMPLETE side of the hexagon quilt. YES!!! So there remains one more side, and then I have to quilt around the entire perimeter to hold the edge in place. I am going to make it. This quilt resides on the "things to do while on Zoom" table, and I need to tackle that. BUT there are also boxes of scraps that need to be cut, and now that we are going to have this session (I see a few sessions, just to cover all the ideas), I'd better get myself in gear. I also need to find my favorite scrap quilt pattern—I think I already know what it is, and I have some tips. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

PS -- As I'm writing this, you must be wondering how my brain works. There are some mornings when I wake up and the first thing I do is open the computer to write the blog. I'm still in this wobbly bed in my PJs. I never know what I'll write about—I just start writing. So the Duck Lake thing? That just popped up! I love to write, and perhaps the beauty of following this blog -- you can't say that it's boring, or I hope you don't, and you never know what will entertain my little mind!!! What fun -- I get so much enjoyment out of writing that I can't NOT write! 

PSS -- OH - and another trip has popped up in my future. I need to completely retire so I will have time to get all this in! Oh my -- I need another list! 

This time, I'm really gone!