The big box.

Pauline always sends me (from Vancouver) these wonderful boxes stuffed full of quilts tops she has made.  It is like Christmas in April  when opening.  She sent table toppers, lap quilts, candle mats, and as always, a little "ok, what are you going to do with this one".

Wonderful lap quilt.

Included in the box is also the backing she wants me to use.  I load as many of the small quilts onto one backing as possible saving Pauline a bit of money as I only charge for the overall dimensions of the backing and not the $50 minimum charge for each one.

These posted today are the first to be loaded.

Pauline also just lets me "go for it" and as she says do my artistic thing!

The lap quilt with all it's colorful 4 patches took on a spiky garden with climbing leaves.

Climbing garden.

So much fun to do.

Fitting onto this back included 2 table toppers in the most wonderful twisted pinwheels.

Look at all those pinwheels!

How do you topstitch a beautiful heart? Well with more hearts of course.

Look at all those hearts!

The second topper was fun to do with a mixture of ruler and free hand topstitching.

The perfect Christmas wreath.

I love having a solid color back to show off the quilting.

Click the photo to zoom.

Then of course comes  the "ok, what are you going to do with this one".  Pauline sent this little strip of 1930's retro patchwork.  Pondering for a bit, decided that a small pot holder or mug rug would be so cute for it.

 

She's going to love it and I am hoping she uses it as a mug rug while she is staying safe working from home and longingly looking at her sewing room.

Stay tune to see what other goodies were in Pauline's April box of goodies.

Just a note: as things are getting a bit busier I am hoping to post 2 blogs a week to be able to show off everyones wonderful creations. 

Open your window

Open your window is the name of this very large and gorgeous quilt of Terry C's.  Spring is here and we should all be opening our windows to let in the sunshine in.

Open your window.

To hang Terry's quilt I had to lay it out on the floor 12" and around the one wall about the same.  I may have to find a larger display wall!

Made for a young man we decided to do a simple straight line meander or as it is better know - circuit board.

Circuit board pattern.

Making straight lines on the longarm is harder than you may expect and I have to admit that there may be a few not exactly straight lines.....but I bet you would be hard pressed to find them and that is the wonderful thing about hand driven and handmade, not perfect but gorgeous and personal.  I am not a machine....lol.

 

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A fun quilt to do and I am so looking forward to loading the her next quilt.

On an entire different note....Tyler sent photos of the SOHO quilt to The Planetary Society and they selected it to go out on their weekly newsletter for the May 1, 2020 WOW of the Week.  https://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/misc/uninterrupted-view-of-the-sun.html?autologin=true&utm_campaign=downlink&utm_medium=email&utm_source=20200501
I was just thrilled.  What a wonderful son I have.

A little bit of everything!!

This week it is the week of all the little things going on in the crafting world of Terry.
My faithful Janome decided that it needed a few repairs and in protest quit sewing.  So we have a new comer to the shop. 

Quantum Stylist 9960

I was very pleasantly surprised with the quality and capabilities of this sewing machine.  One heck of a machine for the price ($400).  Lots of features, feet and a large table base.  Best of all, all the unfinished sewing projects got (and get) to be finished.

New back pack.

I was working on a new back pack for myself when the Janome's bobbin holder gave out.  I love these handy bags. Throw it over your shoulder and off you go.  Best thing about these bags is that when wearing both straps the weight is even on each shoulder.  Great for those who have shoulder or back problems.  If you are interested in one give me a call.

Lots of pockets inside (1 large zippered as well as the main)
and out ( 1 on each side and 2 in the front)

table topper

It felt good to finish this bright (not sure why the photo is a little washed out) table topper.  It had been in the "please finish me" pile for a few weeks.  In keeping with trying out all the features of the 9960, this was quilted with the walking foot, then bound with the same.

The pattern was a quick project put together for a few ladies wanting a refresher course with all the tips and tricks of quilting.  A fun little project where the main block is cut to make 2 different blocks.  I shows how to read a pattern and adjust if needed, cut, sew, match corners, pin, arrange and all the little tips and tricks that help everyday quilting along.

First hand applique.

I was able to finish the border of my very first hand applique attempt.  It was fun to use up as many of the left over scraps from the main design.  Gave me a chance to practice my paper piecing (the pin wheels and flying geese), put the new machine through the gambit piecing and sewing thin strips, and do a little machine applique. But I used up most of the fabric and made a wonderful sampler. 
I found that I enjoy sitting in the evenings with a project to hand sew.  Started this applique project...

Block 1 of  9

Look what happens when you take a class.  You might find a new calling. lol

Yesterday I started making a set of placemats with a simple pattern that are going to be gorgeous. 

New placemats.

With all of this flurry of energy, I am still working on the longarm a few hours a day.  Next week you will be able to see Terry's (not mine) quilt she made for her nephew. 

And last but not least... garden season is almost among us.  Here is the start of what I hope is an awesome growing season in Atlantic Canada!

Pretty in pink charity quilt 2

A treat for today's post.  My son Tyler had fun topstitching this quilt top donated to the charity basket.

Topstitched by Tyler.

He did a wonderful job and had fun doing it.  He had been practicing on and off for the last few months, in between myself doing customer quilts.

Loops and stars.

I showed him how to load the quilt, clean and oil the machine head, and let him at it.

Looks great!!

He chose the design for the topstitching and the thread and had this wonderful twin quilt done in a day.

Dresden Plate pattern.

I am going to have to be careful or he will be taking over the whole business soon. LOL

Good job Tyler and thank you to the person that donated these 2 quilts to the MPQG give away table.  Pretty in pink 2 will be on sale for $100.00 of which $50.00 will be donated to the SPCA and the other $50.00 to cover the material costs for the quilt (backing, batting, thread, and material for binding).

Very cool back.

Remember that all the time to prepare, load, topstitch and bind (which will be done as soon as the new sewing machine is here) our wonderful quilts for charity are donated. 

So if you have quilt tops that you dislike, or just do not want to finish you can drop them off or mail them to (make sure you put an note with it telling me that it is for charity)

Seriously Pinned
862 Manawagonish Rd.
Saint John, NB
E2M 3X1

If you are interested in purchasing one of the charity quilts please drop me an email at
terry@seriouslypinned.ca
or call
506-252-7278

In the mean time, stay safe, and take this opportunity to quilt, quilt quilt!!

Never Again

When Rose brought me her 2nd quilt and I asked what she was calling it, she said "never again".  But I think she should call it "well maybe one more time".

Never Again

Topstitched with a simple all over pattern ( Terry's fav flowers) was all that was necessary.  With all the colors and detail the quilting only needed to hold all the layers together.  Using a very light blue thread made sure to show off the quilt and not the topstitching.

A large quilt at 87" x 87" it took up the whole display wall and I thought it was such a shame to take it down and give it back to Rose as I was really enjoying the color and joy it brought to the longarm studio.

Look at all the detail.

But I am glad that it is home where it belongs as I am sure that Rose will enjoy it for years to come.  And just maybe it will change to "one more time!".

Terry's fav flowers.

Christmas Stars

The first of Rose's 2 quilts is the Christmas Stars quilt.

Christmas Stars 

A beautiful quilt to work on.  Rose decided on ruler work, or 'humps and bumps' as I like to call them, then tying it all in with a meandering leaf pattern in the negative spaces.  

Ruler work to show off the stars.

The ruler work enhances and shows off the stars and squares of the quilt while making a beautiful flower shape to center the leaves.

Rose did a magnificent job of piecing this beautiful Christmas themed quilt.  I still enspire to make my points and joins as lovely as hers.

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A wonderful quilt to bring out during the holidays and show off.  Or if you are like me, hang it up, drape it over a loved chair and show it off all year long!

Next post will be Rose's second quilt 'Never again' .... wow!

Sedona

Clair took a class and look at the quilt she made.  Her first one at that. Wow!

Look at all the shapes.

Wanting to keep the natural feel to the quilt we decided on a mixture of ruler work and free hand loops with little daisies between all the blocks.  She also wanted to tone down the dark grey a bit and we achieved that by topstitching with a basic white thread.

Using the rulers and nice curved lines really accentuated the bright bold colors of Clair's quilt. 

love the shapes

I was careful trying to maintain the same density throughout the negative spaces of the quilt which at times was a challenge through narrow spaces. 

wow

When Clair first brought the quilt to the studio she was unhappy with the back she had originally thought to go with.  After seeing the bright blue backing decided that was the bold pop she was looking for  and what a good decision as the back really shows off all the bright shapes of the front. 

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