Peekaboo Bears - a Mini-Mini Quilt

I thought you'd like to see the completed mini-mini quilt that I started while on my trip to Australia. I posted some in-progress photos and more info about the pattern here.

It is mostly hand quilted with perle cotton, although I did do one outlining machine stitched line using 30 wt Aurifil in hot pink in that navy border. The binding was sewn on by machine and hand tacked to the back. Sadly, my hand-piecing accuracy is not the best (it's been ages since I did much hand-piecing) so most of those pretty points were lost around the outside, but I think overall it's still adorable. I hope my partner in the Ottawa MQG likes her little bears.  All I know about her is that she shares my aversion to brown and she likes Cotton & Steel fabric...this is 8" x 8" of 100% C&S!

I embellished all of the bear eyes with a french knot - so cute!

I really enjoy participating in the swaps we do at VMQG because they tend to be small, manageable projects with a generous time frame to complete them. I'm thankful for the volunteers that take on the organisation and planning; in this case Amy. Our guild ships everything in one go (or sometimes we get lucky with a traveller who can personally deliver the goods). The rules for this one were "make a mini-mini quilt that has an outside perimeter of less than 48 inches". Perfect!!

If you've read Poppyprint for a while, then you know I used to swap like a fiend back in the Flickr days, starting with the famous Doll Quilt Swap.  I think one year I did over 10 swaps and learned many new things every time. Making stuff especially for another person according to their wishlist can be a really fun challenge.  Although I love participating, sharing and receiving beautiful handmade things from around the world, I try to limit myself to one or two a year now and that seems to be the perfect amount. Guild ones are great fun and it's especially fun to connect with other Canadian groups.

How about you...swapping anything these days?

Flickrfaves

Ahhhh, the good old days. The days when we all hung out on Flickr, sharing our photos, participating in conversations and sending our happy little mini quilts, pouches and mugrugs to far away friends in swaps.  Angela started a new hashtag on Instagram for showing our old #flickrfaves photographs to new friends who may not have been on the quilting scene back then.  I know not all of you use Instagram, so I thought I'd repost some of my older work that you may not have seen before (also, most of what I'm making these days I can't share quite yet because they are for challenges or gifts or publication in the future).

Remember when we all started making Mug Rugs? These were two I put together with some leftover "twofer" corners cut off from some flying geese for another projects. All French General fabric. January 2011

This was one of two tree skirts I made using a pattern by Carol Turznik (mamacjt on Flickr). Carol kindly granted me permission to teach this as a class and it was a lot of fun! December 2010

Here's another mug rug made for a Flickr swap, September, 2010. This pear design went on to become a  bolster pillow pattern published in Stitch magazine.

Another sweet little art quilt given away in a swap. The theme was Spring Fling and completely unbeknownst to my partner and I, we both made a tiny quilt featuring a nest with 3 robin's eggs for each other! Sometimes swaps can have the most surprising results. 

March, 2010

This wallhanging was made in 2004 after a workshop with local teacher Barb Mortell, who taught the free-pieced paper dolls. It was my first 'original design' quilt and the first time I'd tried free-cutting and piecing curves with a rotary cutter and making improv-pieced flying geese. The quilt is called Mu-Mu Bijoux and is a remembrance of my late mother-in-law and her Maui muumuus.

This baby Storm at Sea was made for our former babysitter when she had her first child. I made it 10 years ago from all the soft Moda florals that were so in style back then at our local shops.

Here's a favourite of both my husband and mine. It was sent away in a mini swap with a 'house' theme. It's all wool applique and an original design inspired by a photograph I took near my parent's cottage in rural Ontario. A local resident has placed unique birdhouses on top of a row of fence posts by a hay field. 

And finally, I think this is my most-viewed Flickr photo, with over 6500 views. I'm not sure how that happened, but I think it was featured on the Explore page and then used in a bunch of inspiration mosaics for mugrug swaps. I actually kept this one because I was so pleased with how it turned out. It was my first ever project using Essex Linen, which started quite a love affair for me - it's my background of choice for special projects!

September has been so busy for me already. I presented 5 trunk shows/lectures in the space of 8 days to local traditional guilds, taught an Improv Under the Influence workshop, hosted a day retreat, delivered our son to university, made 3 mini quilts and a lap sized quilt top, completed a special gift, made two Stepping Stones table runners from Make It, Take It, and provided many, many Mom Taxi rides for our daughter (who has started supervised driving, thank goodness). In another week, I'm off on a very exciting adventure to Sweden, where I'll be teaching 3 workshops. I'm also helping organize a showcase of Modern Mini Quilts for the VMQG; we are showcasing our quilts at the Vancouver Quilter's Guild show on October 23 & 24.

2015 is a crazy, exciting, amazing year so far and the fun will continue right through to December. Somewhere in the next two months I need to make the QuiltCon entry that I'm dreaming about and get a start on some Christmas gifts. 

Phew. 

Lonestar Circle Mini

When I first started blogging and participating in the quilting and sewing community on Flickr, I signed up for so many swaps. I spent almost two years sewing up mini quilts, pouches, pot holders, mug rugs and hoops for other people. Some of my very best and most creative work went out the front door and into the homes of other sewists. Swapping was super fun and I met some of my closest online friends that way, but I started feeling a little sad about some of the great work I sent away that I'd never see again.  I decided to take a break and only do occasional swaps with friends.

     

Just a few of the swap items that I sent off to partners over the past 5 years.

Then Instagram took off like crazy and, similar to Flickr, communities started up through swapping again. I felt ready to jump back in and signed up for Kristi's Schnitzel and Boo Miniquilt Swap (search the hashtags #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap OR #makeaquiltmakeafriend if you want to check out the quilts on IG). Round Two is just shipping now and there are 1000 participants!  It is exciting to be a part of something so huge - I even signed up to be a swap mama to help ensure that this massive swap was a success.  Each mama has about 40 swappers to monitor and I'm super lucky because all 38 of my swappers are 100% committed to seeing the swap through. Phew!

So, what would I make for my secret partner? With my book, Make It, Take It coming out in a month's time, I wanted to try a mini-version of one of the patterns.  Lynne designed this incredible Lone Star Circle quilt for the book and used Oakshott shot cottons to make it.

Photo from Make It, Take It by Brent Kane, Martingale 2014

A lonestar quilt has long been on my "to try" list and this complete circle version is so eye-catching I knew it was a must.  In Lynne's pattern, the strips are cut 3 1/2".  I made a 1/3-sized version by cutting 1 1/2" strips from fat quarters (the finished mini is just under 18" square).  There is something about radiating designs; they seem to be universally loved by quilters.  Is it the symmetry? The eye-catching points?  I can't quite put my finger on it, but this little honey got more likes on IG than anything else I've ever posted!

All seams are pressed open on this mini, except for the two vertical seams that meet in the middle for the final horizontal joining seam (between the two half circles). I pressed those in opposite directions so I could lock the allowances and achieve a perfect pointy centre star!

The background is Essex yarn-dyed linen in flax, and the finished quilt measures 18" square.  My swap partner seems to like radiating designs (based on her inspiration mosaic) and although this fabric wasn't mentioned in her favourite designers list, I hope the universal appeal of Cotton & Steel will make this okay for her.  I don't have any fabrics by one designer she listed and I'm going to send her the 2 fat quarters I have from her other favourite designer as extras.

I simply quilted with straight lines and a longer stitch length (3.5 stitches/inch) using Aurifil 30 wt cotton thread in hot pink and teal to match the centre star prints.  I will freely admit that after doing so much improvisational sewing last fall, pin-matching all of those points nearly drove me bananas, but the effort is well worth the results!  In the book, I explain how to correctly pin-match angled seams so that you end up with perfectly pointy-points.

Throughout the year I'll be making up my own versions of the contributor projects from Make It, Take It. I can't wait to share more of this book with you!  Of course there will be a blog tour (watch for that in April).  For now, set your calendar alarms for February 10th: that's the day you'll be able to order the book from  Martingale's  online shop. The bonus is that when you buy a hard copy direct from the publisher, you automatically receive a FREE digital copy, so you can take the book along on retreat or to your sew-ins on your tablet or laptop! Yay!

Little Quilts Swap - My Very Own Cocktail Shakers!

Ooooooh!! Check it out, my gorgeous mini quilt was waiting here for me when we arrived home from Italy last Saturday (yes, we were in Italy! I tried posting remotely using my phone but it just wouldn't work - stay tuned for pics and stories coming soon).

I think it's so much fun that my secret (maker) partner made the same pattern for me as I made for my secret (recipient) partner!  Also, I didn't know Nedra prior to this swap, so thank you Amy and Sarah for introducing me to a new friend and fabulous quilter. 

Nedra did an amazing job of piecing this mini with lovely shot cottons, as in Amy's pattern. I love the colours and the variegated quilting thread. This little number is going to hang in my sewing room where I can enjoy it daily. Thank you so much Nedra!

I've still got the Shaken, Not Stirred runner here. I'm almost finished a little extra I wanted to include for my partner and then I can pop it in the mail!

Little Quilts Cocktail Shakers and a giveaway

Hello there, fans of Amy, Sarah, sweet little quilts, cocktails, and Liberty!  Welcome to my stop on the Little Quilts blog tour, where I will happily gush on and on about how much I am enjoying this addition to my quilting library.

I met Amy during my first foray into swapping back in the Flickr Doll Quilt Swap. I was then introduced to Sarah and her beautiful work shortly after when these two talented ladies teamed up for their Dollies on Line pattern company.  Amy's Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts was one of the first blogs I followed years ago and she thrilled me one day with a sweet unexpected gift prompted by a mini quilt I'd made. I knew right then, that she was my kind of people.  Something tells me that I will get to meet both of these amazing quilters next year in person.....

So, if you've been following along this blog tour you already know that the tour is a swap!  Each of us has a secret partner for which we are making a quilt from Little Quilts. Prior to receiving my copy, I had already decided (based on the Amazon "take a look inside" photos) which pattern I'd use. Then my book arrived: cue indecision.  I wanted to make ALL THE QUILTS! Really! That rarely happens with me and books. Every pattern appeals to me. I know this will be my go-to guide whenever a swap comes around because there is definitely something for everyone and plenty of room for customization with fabric choices, fussy cutting and expanding to larger-sized quilts.

planning, planning, planning

Having recently acquired a bumper crop of Liberty tana lawn F8's, I was anxious to use some of them in this special quilt. I paired them with that other British fabric I love, Oakshott Colourshotts. After marking several pages in the book, eventually I returned to my original idea because my little brain just loved the idea of an all-British cocktail shaker quilt: A James-Bond-ish Shaken, Not Stirred table runner.

I think these two kinds of fabric really enjoy each other's company. The foundation piecing for the cocktail shaker shapes is very straightforward and not at all fiddly as far as paper piecing goes. It's actually a great project for a first go at this technique.  Can you spot the teeny Hello Kitties in the border print?

"Shaken, Not Stirred"

The runner finished up at 16" x 31".  Hopefully my partner has a suitably sized coffee table or side board, or even a bar!  Of course, there is always the awkward skinny wall option for hanging a table runner. 

I quilted the runner with a gorgeous blue Aurifil 28 wt thread in a straight line diagonal grid pattern that parallels the piecing. And I used this perfectly-suited Laurie Wisbrun print from my stash on the back!

To see what everyone else is making for their secret partners in our blog tour swap, have a look at the other stops listed below!  If you don't have it already, ask your local quilt shop to stock this wonderful book for you...then organize a swap with your guild or quilting friends!

If you'd like to win a copy of Little Quilts courtesy of Sara and Amy's publisher, leave a comment and let us know if you've ever made a doll or mini quilt before!  I'll close the giveaway October 4th and chose a random winner.  To win, you MUST leave your email address in your comment if it is not linked. If I can't contact you with one click, I'm afraid I have to chose another winner.  Good luck!

September 1: Amy and Sarah

http://mrsschmenkmanquilts.wordpress.com

http://thelastpiece.typepad.com

September 8: Pam Vieira-McGinnis

http://pamkittymorning.blogspot.com

September 15: Nedra Sorenson

http://cactus-needle.blogspot.com/

September 22: Lynne Goldsworthy and Krista Hennebury

http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com

http://poppyprintcreates.blogspot.com/

September 29: John Adams

http://quiltdad.com

October 6: Katy Jones

http://imagingermonkey.blogspot.com

EDITED TO ADD: comments are now closed, and congratulations to commenter #63, Kathy, who has won herself a copy of Little Quilts!

VMQG's first overnight retreat!

The VMQG had a sleepover!  Planning for this special weekend had been in the works for over a year. When then-President Holly asked if I would like to organize the guild's first retreat I was more than happy to get started. Of course I want to retreat with my modern quilty peeps!

We stayed at a beautifully secluded and quietly comfortable retreat center, with freshly planted herb and flower gardens, about an hour out of Vancouver. I had been there four times before, but not for a few years because my regular retreat group is too large for this work room (I fear that once the other members of the guild find out what a great time the 22 of us had, so many will want to attend our next one that we'll need a bigger venue, too!).

On our first night we had a fun wine and cheese welcome that included our pillowcase swap. Prior to retreat I'd sent everyone a tutorial for making a French-seamed and piped pillow case using the "sausage roll" method (google it, there are lots of tutes!).  It was a brown paper bag swap with stealing - despite some speedy steals, we all ended up with a fun pillowcase.

I made the AMH Drawing Room one scored by Jo Anne on the left there.

I'm afraid that's all I've got for photos. When I wasn't giving away draw prizes, hosting wine and cheese swap and show & tell, or painting my nails with the lovely Soakwash Lizzy House nail lacquer set (at midnight!) I had my head down working on a VSQ.  That's a Very Special Quilt.  Please come back tomorrow for my Bloggers Quilt Festival entry....you'll see it then.

URHere Swap

Swapping has fallen by the wayside for me in the last year. That's not such a bad thing, I really needed to take a step back from too many commitments. I sure miss them when I see some of the gorgeous makes winging their way around the world in some of the great Flickr swap groups.  Amy started up a fun swap in Instagram for Starbucks You Are Here Mugs.  The last thing I need is another mug (my kitchen is so small and we literally have no room in the cupboard for even one more!), but it is so easy to buy a mug, pop it in a box and ship it!

It wasn't long before super cute little makes were popping up in the flickr group and being sent as "extras". There was no way I could just send my partner a lonely mug!  I've got a fairly substantial collection of basted  Liberty 1/2" hexies so I ladder stitched a flower together and appliqued it onto some chambray for this sweet needle book, complete with Liberty fabric-covered button.

There's a gorgeous Liberty blue poppy print on the inside, along with some hand-dyed wool in a beautiful shade of purple.

I'm not even sure my partner likes Liberty tana lawn, but don't think there are many warm-blooded quilters who can resist it!  This swap package will go in the mail tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing which location my mug will come from - I'll let you know when it arrives.  There will be two extras soon as well. Cindy and Katie both wanted Vancouver mugs, so I'll have an Orange County and Seattle ones coming my way, too!

Wee Needle Book Swap: VMQG - LMQG

While in London, England for the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July, I had so much fun with some new friends from the London Modern Quilt Guild who were staying in the same hotel as me. Late nights in the lounge after retreat classes and dinner were a hoot - these girls were very entertaining!  I can't remember exactly who suggested it (probably at 1:00 a.m. after many glasses of wine), but we cooked up a little trans-Atlantic swap between their guild and mine, the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild.

We discussed swaps we'd already done in the past with other MQG's that included pouches, tote bags and pin cushions. Due to expensive international postage we figured the items should be small and light. Needle books became the obvious choice; no one had swapped them before and they are definitely small and light! Because many of the LMQG members are not on flickr and don't blog, we figured the easiest way to do this swap was to keep it "blind".   Everyone will avoid the stress of trying to make the perfect thing for an assigned partner and simply make a cute needle book, wrap it in brown paper and send it off!

We've got well over 50 people in total participating!  All of us will have a sweet handmade needle book from a fellow MQG member in time for our Christmas meetings. Fun!

I made the one you see pictured here yesterday with some of my Briar Rose "Two-fers" from another project and some Essex yard dyed linen in Flax that I purchased here.  The luscious felted wool inside is hand dyed by my local friends at Wool Penny Rugs.

I just love that tiny fabric covered button (also a scrap of Briar Rose) - sometimes a little detail like that can take a simple project to the next level of special, along with the hand-embroidered border around the front and back pinwheels.  I am hoping these details will distract the recipient from the fact that the lining strawberry print is upside down. Ahem.  Linen does not fair well with unpicking a 1/4" seam (can you say fray?).  I knew it would be risky, so I had to leave it and I'm okay with that.

This swap happened very casually and just because I happened to be visiting with a group of super fun fellow MQG members. Are you a MQG member who will be traveling or visiting another MQG somewhere in the world? Why not suggest a swap? It's a great way to forge connections and friendships between Modern quilters and it doesn't have to be complicated, expensive or onerous.  We'll take photos at our December meetings so we can share pictures of swappers with their needle books and see who received our work over in London and vice versa! 

(p.s. The VMQG is a large and enthusiastic swapping guild. We have several more swappers signed up than London does, but that's okay because the extra people will swap "in-house". That means about 10 locals will swap amongst themselves rather than be left out of the fun)

FQR - The Good Stuff

After a big trip, it takes me some time to decompress, reflect, and organize my thoughts, images, souvenirs and laundry.  The London week was so full and exciting it still fills my mind on a daily basis as I recall things I saw, people I met and places I visited. Not really knowing how to break it all down for sharing, I thought I would begin by showing you all of the incredible handmades that came home with me, and segue into the incredible people I met.

Here's an all-in-one shot of my loot:

Everything is so fab that each one deserves it's own picture, though. First I'll start off with items from the "Sample Swap". This was cleverly arranged by Trash via the retreat Flickr group. People signed up and said what they would like to make and Trash organized all of us into secret groups of 4 or 5 swappers, careful to make sure there were a variety of items being made amongst the members of each group.  We posted photos in the Flickr pool prior to retreat so that everyone could get excited and hope for their favorite items.  I think I may have squealed with joy when I heard Jo's name called in my group. I was in love with her beautiful Liberty Matryoshka dolls and was so happy that one would come home with me!

 

I know from Flickr that Di makes lovely things, so when her name was called for our group, I couldn't wait to see what she'd brought. This plastic window pouch/roll up will be super handy. I just can't decide if I will fill it with sewing notions, or perhaps use it as a travel case for toiletries.  Also appearing in the photo below is the gorgeous nametag I received in the separate nametag swap! This was made by Anna and features prints from the Liberty quilting cotton collection. Swoon.

One of the sweetest new friends I made at FQR was Sonia. Look at the adorable heart hanger she swapped with us! I haven't the foggiest idea how to crochet and didn't manage to make it into Laura Jane's class at the retreat to learn how, so I really appreciate this tiny perfect flower on the heart. I've got it hanging on the doorknob of my bedroom closet right beside my bed so I see it first thing when I wake up!

The happy swappers! Di, me, Sonia and Jo

Fellow Canadian and Best Roommate Ever (we had no choice but to get very personal in our tiny, sweltering 5th floor hotel room....one cannot wear a whole lot to bed when it's 30 degrees C in the room!) Susan gifted me with this welcome to London quilted zip pouch complete with her perfect embroidery. I brought her a thread catcher made of Munki Munki roller skates filled with Canadian candy that she's been missing while living in the UK for years.

Tiny hotel room with mostly ineffective fan!

For over a year, Hadley and I had been bantering back and forth about doing a swap together. This was the perfect opportunity to save on postage and get 'er done!  She asked me for a threadcatcher, which is easy peasy for me since I make about a hundred a year. Outdoing herself, Hadley made me the most exquisite clutch purse of Liberty tana lawn + linen. I am seriously considering having a plexiglass box made so I can permanently display it in the middle of our living room coffee table. I mean, look at this thing! It's perfection in tiny squares! I was rather speechless and feeling a tad guilty for emerging from this swap a clear winner. Methinks Hadley deserves a bit of a top up from my end.

side A, I die.

side B, I die a little more.

I'll continue on here with a few more pics from the actual retreat. I didn't take my DSLR out much as I was busy talking (shocker!), sewing and generally doing everything but thinking of taking pics.  The people were the draw for me. I went to meet longtime online friends in person and having so many in one place was perfect, but also a little challenging. I'm sure anyone who has attended Sewing Summit, Quilt Market or QuiltCon would agree: there truly wasn't enough time to sit down and really connect for very long. I think everyone tried to make the best of it, though.

I finally got to meet John. How cute is he coordinating with the FQ banner? Poor guy, basically got off an overnight flight and two hours later was greeting retreat guests at the welcome table. Despite very little sleep all weekend, John maintained his friendly, cheerful demeanor at all times. Total honey.

This is Delma from Siblings Together with the quilt I donated made by members of VMQG

The delightfully charming, hilarious AND talented Lucie Summers teaching her Portholes class. It was a real treat to meet her, learn her great technique, hear about The Turkey Shed and return home with an autographed copy of her book Quilt Improv. It's written entirely in her voice (now I can even hear her accent when I read it!) and is a visual treat for any quilter.


The results of my Portholes class

Need I say anything? Mr. Aurifil himself.

The delightful Mandy  (from whom I learned needle turn applique) and Kerry (who taught me how to make perfect PJ pants) sandwiching a very tired looking me on the final morning of retreat.


The results of my PJ's class = lovely voile capris. Just don't call them "pants", people. I love the comfy waistband that is 1/2 elastic, 1/2 ties.

Lovely Lynne taking her job as velvet rope doorwoman for Market Night very seriously indeed

On Saturday night after classes a Pub Quiz was held on the terrace for groups of 7. It was all very impromptu and sudden, but I found myself in a stellar group creatively named The Team and look at us! We emerged victorious and each walked away with 3 gorgeous Jen Kingwell patterns after successfully answering questions about fabric, designers, bloggers and quilts. Yay team!

Phew, I think that just about wraps it up for FQR 2013 people and makes. I've got lots of London photos to wade through and share as well. More coming soon, promise. Our summer travel is all done so I will attempt a return to more regular blogging. I hope everyone is enjoying their fine summer!!