#quilt canada

[vafibrearts]

Hello Friends and Happy Monday!  I've just released a new post on my website! 

In anticipation for Quilt Canada 2021, coming up later this week, I'm sharing the making of my TrendTex challenge submission!  Check out my post to learn more about the challenge guidelines, inspiration for my piece, and my design process!   

I can't wait to see what the other participants come up with for this year's TrendTex challenege!  

[ecoslo]

Trend Tex Challenge 2018 mini quilt finished: Back during Easter weekend, I shipped off my Trend Tex Challenge mini quilt. I did the binding in the car drive to visit family! It will be displayed with all of the other challenge quilts during Quilt Canada this June in Vancouver. 

I haven’t used much appliqué before (except for one of the first quilts I made, a Hawaiian quilt). It was really fun to experiment with a new technique like this, and a bit of a different look. I learned a little along the way and I’m generally pleased with the outcome, so to me that’s a successful project!

Quilty details:

* 18″ square finished size

* Used the 5 prints provided for the Trend Tex Challenge in 2018, plus a backing fabric

* Fussy cut and raw-edge fusible appliquéd flower shapes

* Straight line quilted with 1/4″ spacing

The mini quilts will be judged at the show and auctioned off eventually, so I won’t get this one back - but that’s okay with me! (And I’ve got the photos, anyway!) 

[ecoslo]

Trend-Tex Challenge 2018: On a side note first - I’ve been busy over the past several weeks with day-job work, so I’m a bit behind on my blog posts! I do still try to make time almost every day to work on projects even if it’s only for a few minutes - so I’ve been working away on things, just not posting about them.

So -- every year for Quilt Canada, the Canadian Quilters’ Association hosts a themed mini quilt challenge, sponsored by Trend-Tex. I decided to participate this year and ordered a kit of this year’s designated fabrics, which was a mix of more modern fabrics including some Cotton and Steel prints.

The theme was “Celebrate” and I puzzled over what I would do for a while! But I decided after seeing my mom’s pressed flowers designs (she is making greeting cards with dried flowers), I decided I’d do something similar with fabric - and it could be “Celebration of Spring.” (Which seems like it’s never coming at this point, we’ve still got snow on the ground here in Ottawa!)

I tried a new-to-me technique of fusible raw-edge appliqué. I drew out shapes on paper, then traced them onto the fusible “Heat-n-Bond.” I fused them to fabric, fussy-cutting for some of the flower petals. I tried a bunch of arrangements -- at first I’d wanted to do something symmetrical, then decided I am better with something a little more random! I then fused to the background fabric before quilting. More on that soon!

[ecoslo]

Finished “Essex Linen” challenge: 

Last week I finished the final touches on my guild Essex Linen challenge quilt (more on piecing here and quilting here). 

It was the first time I used a “faced” binding technique. I found a great faced binding tutorial from Susan Brubaker Knapp (through my friend M-R (Quilt Matters) blog.) I was always thought this a nice finished edge when I saw quilts on display that were faced, but I had no idea how to do it before. I can attest that it is no more difficult than regular binding! And I think it looks good on small quilts like this -- the binding doesn’t distract from the overall design. 

I have submitted it to my guild’s exhibit for Quilt Canada in June, so fingers crossed that I will see it there! (I’m planning to go to Toronto for the show!)

Quilty Details:

* Finished size - 17″ x 17″

* Top patchwork is Essex Linen in 5 colours (Pickle, Linen, Light Blue, Cadet and Plum); the backing fabric was from a sale shelf in a local quilt shop back in Edmonton and I have no idea the designer / manufacturer!

* Hand quilted with DMC perle cotton 

* Machine quilted with King Tut variegated thread in “Sahara Desert” (Superior)

* Faced binding

Linking up with Finish it up Friday.

[ecoslo]

Essex Linen challenge: Our guild is part of a special exhibit at Quilt Canada this year in Toronto. As part of the show, the guild has arranged a challenge using Essex Linen (55% linen, 45% cotton fabric manufactured by Robert Kaufman). The challenge is to make a mini quilt that includes Essex Linen as at least half of its piecing. 

Since the finished quilts are due in just a couple of weeks, I needed to get a start on mine! So I went to Mad About Patchwork last weekend and got five colours of Essex Linen: Pickle, Linen, Light Blue, Cadet and Plum. 

I’d been thinking about different designs I could try, including foundation paper piecing and other things - but when it came time to cut the fabric, I decided that I just wanted to do improv! So, I started making some improv curves. Rather than cut in half (as I did in my “Kelly KAPOWski” quilt top), I wanted to add in wedges to try something new. 

I am pretty pleased with the results so far on this completed mini quilt top. The natural sort of feel with the linen made me want to try some hand quilting, so that is what I’m doing next on this one!

[vafibrearts]

Hello Friends and Happy Monday!  A new post, "Memories of Quilt Canada: Ottawa 2019" has been posted on my website!

This week, in anticipation of the upcoming Virtual Quilt Canada 2021, I've shared three of my favourite entries from the last Quilt Canada conference I was able to attend in person!  I had a great time at the Ottawa 2019 show, where I brought a non-quilting friend who listened to me ramble endlessly about quilting techniques that I'd love to try some day.  I would love to be able to bring her to another quilt show again in the future! 

As for the quilts, you'll have to check out my post to see which ones were my favourites!