An apple a day....

Yesterday was a glorious day! OK - most days are glorious, but yesterday was super glorious.  I took a class and I actually got something done!

I confess, I'm not super motivated to get this last deadline quilt done. I may or may not proceed with it for the deadline. I may end up doing something just for me with the fabrics. I'll see how today goes cause I still haven't started and I had a design SNAFU thought that came to me the moment I woke up.  I'm OK if it doesn't get done.  And life really is all about having fun and I've met a ton of deadlines lately - I deserve a break.

Anyway - got to the quilt show (Quilts at the Creek - at Black Creek Pioneer Village).  Oh my - the quilts are GORGEOUS flapping in the breeze.  It was super exciting to see them all hanging. I quickly snapped a picture of my two as they were on the way to the lecture and posted them to Instagram/Facebook.  I've got to keep up with my friends Peggy and Tish on the Instagram thing. I'm not going to post pictures of those today as the red/white one needs better pictures with close ups for you to understand it.

The lecture was with Tamara Kate. She was at Quilt Canada but to be honest, I didn't know who she was - tsk tsk on my part!  And well, I have enough fabric. Turns out she's a designer for Michael Miller (GASP! - although I did know that before I signed up for the lecture).  I have to say that I do like the estectic of her prints - not all of them, but overall they are very fun, funky and I'd put them in the modern category.  If you go to the link above, you'll see some of her quilts that she's designed with her collections and you'll see the collection that I HAD to buy.  Oh god - what's the matter with me?  I was soft - I was weak and my credit card just jumped out of my bag and into the shop owner's machine!  I also bought something else which I'll reveal in a bit - you'll be shocked. I'm shocked, but it's something I've been thinking about for a while and well, I couldn't stop myself. There is a clue on that same page.

It's always interesting to hear someone else's story. Hers was no exception as she is a graphic designer first who fell into quilting and has now become a quilter!  I did snap some pictures of her quilts, but I'm not going to post them.  Instead I'm going to tell you about the class which was taught by Tamara Kate.

It would appear that I didn't take a picture of the apple quilt.  Seriously???  I had a phone and a camera with me and NO picture of the apple quilt?  Good grief - I'm slipping.  Did anyone get a picture of the apple quilt? Well never mind because soon I'll have my own apple quilt!

I actually knew a good number of the people in the class so that was fun.  Got to catch up on summer stuff and what's happening - whose is doing what for the fall, etc.

So I did mention that I was prepped for the class.  I had cut some red squares, I had brought some other red/white/pink fabrics that I wasn't sure I would use and I brought some green fabrics to cut up.  I did take the background just for moral support.


BUT - I think some people were way more organized than I was. Have a look.

Now that's organisation!

Alas - that was not my little stash.  But that's OK.  Once we got going, I had to cut a few squares of the red/white/pink fabrics that I brought because an idea came to me and then I was off.  Some people chose to use 2" squares instead of 1 1/2".  No big deal - it'll just change the size of the finished quilt. At the end of the three hour class, here are some of the results.

Finished "blocks"

I say blocks because this quilt isn't really about blocks, but if you want to break it down and sew in sections, then the sections become blocks.  There is a very subtle heart in the apple quilt but I chose to make it defined in mine. And that's where I used those red/white/pinkish prints. Can you tell above which one is mine?  although You can very easily see the heart in all of them. Notice that Jennifer was a keener and had TWO sections done!  There is only one heart!

It was only when my block was on the wall with the others that I realized that OOPS - I had goofed with the top section.

A squashed heart!

However I was on a roll and decided to fix it this morning and now the heart is just fine.

Now it looks better

Now here is where the insane part of my brain comes into play.  I love little squares, but I have an issue with the pressing. If you sew in rows, you can press one row to the left and one to the right and the seams are nested. But when you go to sew the rows together, you have to go left or right (or up or down). So I decided to twirl the seams. ACK!!!!!  I can't help myself - but my piece is FLAT and that is why I take the time to do stupid fiddly little things like twirling the seams.

Seams all twirled on the back

It doesn't make a difference, but it does to me!

I have no idea how many squares we need. I know that Peggy calculated the numbers. Something like 1,048 for the background, 4?? for the red and 1??  of the green?  I'm just going to make it up as I go along.  Too much figuring and too much time wasted deciding if I have enough squares. If I run out, I'll throw something else in there. Who knows!

I did notice that a lot of the others used much busier prints than I did especially for their red part.  I chose to keep the apple red and the lighter apple parts will be red/white.  I did throw a few tiny prints in with a bit of color, but this is red!

What's funny is that I like to eat GREEN apples, not red ones!

Instead of being good and working on my next deadline project, I decided to read last night. And this morning I decided to do this.

Nothing like getting some of those background squares cut. After seeing Tamara Kate's verion, I decided to go with black on white. And I put my background moral support fabric away for another day. I grabbed the black/white scrapbox and started cutting.

Cutting the background squares

 And when I stopped this morning, I had sorted out all the black on white that was suitable.

Fabrics are sorted

I'm not sure how many I will get from the pile of fabrics on the left. But it's enough to get me started and should I run out, well, I've got a whole stash bucket of white on blacks.  But for starters - we're going with the scrap bins.  That's what I love about quilting. I love the scraps more than I love the stash!

I was contemplating going for a bike ride this morning, but got plowed down by a dog at the park and I think I'll give my knee a break. That means I have no choice - I HAVE to work on my deadline project. Darn dogs - making up my mind. It wasn't even one of my dogs!  And it's not the knee I had surgery on - it's the other one!


Here is a picture of a dress that Tamara Kate made with one of her fabric collections.  Is this not adorable???  The pattern is Made by Rae which is funny as I have a couple of her patterns, but didn't associate the name!

Pattern by Made by Rae

 I hope that's right as I couldn't find the pattern on her web site.


Here's one thing I have about cotton and clothing.  First off - it doesn't stretch so it's not super comfortable unless the pattern has ease built in. But how much ease is too much and still be flattering and not look like you're wearing a pillowcase with a slit in the top? And then there's the issue of ironing.  While this little dress is super cute, would I iron it before I put it on a child?  NO!   And then pretty little dresses like this - would they stay clean? Where would the child wear it?  That didn't happen in our house. So I guess my kid would be running around in a wrinkled dress, covered in mud, but happy as a clam?  Probably!

On that note, I'm out of here as I have work to do and I'm back to the quilt show around lunch time.

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!