Ever since my sister's friend Sherri got married, she has been asking me to make a baby quilt from her wedding dress.  I have known Sherri and her family for longer than I can even remember. So after many years of patiently waiting, Sherri and her Husband Dan were finally expecting! I, of course, was so excited when I heard the great news. I was looking forward to making a quilt for their new baby girl.

Sherri let me have complete control of the design and fabric selection for the quilt. Her only request was that her new daughter's name, Realla-June, be stitched somewhere on the quilt. She didn't even want to see the quilt until it was finished.  So what do you make when the sky's the limit? It is surprisingly a hard choice.  

One element that helped me make the decision is that Sherri's wedding dress was white and red. I wanted to select fabrics that complimented the red. I knew almost immediately that I wanted to use Moda's Miss Kate by Bonnie and Camille. I've used this fabric line before and with red and aqua, it really is the sweetest.

For the pattern I adapted the blocks used in Thimble Blossoms "A Piece of Cake" pattern. I wanted to add a band of wedding dress white and applique Realla-June's name in bold fabric letters to the quilt about 3/4's of the way down the quilt top. I was having trouble finding the perfect font to use for the applique, when I had a great idea.  What better font than a Mother's own handwriting? I asked Sherri to write the baby's name on a piece of paper and take a photo of it. From there I blew up the photo, traced it on the fabric and then satin-stitched the name onto the wedding dress.

This adorable little quilt has been on my "wait-list" since last summer when little Patrick made his way into the world.  The quilt was received today and now I can finally share!

Patrick's Mommy wanted a "woodsy-ish" themed quilt and with that in mind we unintentionally selected some organic fabrics from Monalunna Fabrics and Birch Fabircs to be used in a chevron pattern.  I hadn't worked with organic fabrics until this quilt and I had been curious as to what they would be like to work with. In the end, I found the fabrics just as easy and affordable as a regular high quality quilting cotton.

For the quilting I decided to use straight-line quilting in random widths to replicate bark on a tree.

To complete the "woodsy-ish" theme, I used a birch tree fabric on the entire back.

I am so incredibly happy with the final result.  It is a beautiful, soft and bright quilt for Patrick to enjoy for years to come!!

As part of my 2015 quilty resolution, I continue to make the quilts that I want to make based on my own ideas and inspiration.

A long while ago, I picked up a sweet little charm pack of a fabric line called "Little Apples", by Aneela Hoey.  The fabric reads like a storybook, complete with hula hoops, apple trees, turtles and squirrels.  I love the colour palette, red, white and aqua.
 
I had been waiting for the perfect inspiration to hit to use it up. I've wanted to make a cross quilt (like these by Cora Quilts) for quite awhile now, but I kept asking myself, has this type of quilt be overdone?  To be honest, I still haven't grown tired of them.  They are so sweet and many quilters keep finding new and fresh ways to make them. 

I decided that rather than piece the quilt in a cross pattern I would use the quilting to create a subdued cross pattern. I kept my quilt piecing quite simple by using all 2" squares, white and patterned.  I switched up the colours of thread used in the quilting.  I used white, grey, aqua and only one cross of red for emphasis. 

When you stand away from the quilt, you can see the crosses in the quilt.  I love this effect!  Can you see it?

For the backing I used Cherie, by Frances Newcombe for Art Gallery Fabrics.  I love this fabric, and I really hope to use more of it.

This quote completely describes my vision of perfect recipient of this quilt.  What do you think?

The overall finished size of the quilt is 36" x 36", just perfect for a baby girl!

I, of course like many people, have allowed this day to be a money grab in the past.  Spending money that didn't need to be spent on things that were easily forgotten.  But then 4 years ago it became so much more for me.  My Husband proposed to me on Valentine's Day.  I know there are many who feel that sort of proposal is so cliché.  I don't think it is.  Having our engagement occur on a day that is easy to remember has actually been fun.  We always reminisce about the day we became engaged, it makes us remember how special that day was for us.  

When you think about it, is there really anything wrong with having one day a year that forces you remember the love you have for others?  Do you have to spend money to show someone you love them? Does love only mean loving a partner?  Of course not.  Everyone has someone they love, whether it is a significant other, your friends or your family.  Take Valentine's Day as an opportunity to think about the love you have for the people in your life.  Show them you care and tell them what they mean to you.  

Yesterday, our 5 year old Nephew Gavin came home with a booklet of "People I Love".  My Brother-In-Law shared with me that one of things that Gavin loves is Our house, where his Uncle Callum and Rascal (my dog lives).  Of course, I am missing from that little description, but it turned my heart to mush knowing that we (or at least my Husband and dog) make enough of a difference in his life for him to mention us (them).
    

This reminded me of a Valentine I made for my Bubbie (Grandma) over 25 years ago.  We found this after she passed away.  I can't even begin to tell you the emotion I felt knowing that she had kept this little piece of paper for all of those years.  I keep this in a frame in my sewing studio all year round.  I love being able to see it while I sew.  

This year in preparation for Valentine's day, I began using some of my pink scraps to make a Valentine's Day quilt.  I wanted to use one of my favourite blocks by  Pile of Fabric and replicate a larger version The Hohnstreiter Ohana's "Cross my Heart Mini".

Unfortunately I only got as far as making the quilt top and haven't had time to quilt it.  I have so many ideas about how I want to quilt it, and it will most likely take me until next Valentine's day to complete it!

So I urge you not to write this year's Valentine's Day off as a commercial holiday.  Take time to think about those that you love and show them you care!

We've all been there.  We've all had exciting things to share but for one reason or another we haven't been able to share.  I am proud to say that I can finally share a very special project that I have been working on since last SPRING.  

My cousin, Meredith, headed to Queens University last September.  My ever so clever Aunt Joan wanted me to create a memory blanket for Meredith to use while she was away at University. 

Meredith has been involved in dance her entire life and had collected quite the collection of t-shirts and dance costumes.  Rather than have all of these things take up space in the back of a closet, my Aunt asked if I could use them to make a quilt.  Nothing too complicated.  Of course, I always make things MUCH more complicated than needed. I like everything that way!

The majority of clothing was secretly delivered when my Aunt delivered my new-to-me coffee table that she had beautifully refinished.  The remaining items (school uniform kilt & shirt) were delivered much later after Meredith finished the last year of high school.

I wanted to create something that was a little bit more than regular patchwork squares.  I had seen several quilts on Pinterest that were "Polaroid Quilts".  I thought this style of quilt would be perfect for a memory quilt!  I wasn't able to find the original source of this style of quilt, but there are plenty out of examples and tutorials out there. 

Here we are in 2015! A new year of promise. Can you believe that it is already here?  2014 flew by in a flash and was a really fantastic year for me, my family & friends. I can only hope that 2015 is even better!

I have spent the last couple of weeks of 2014 frantically trying to finish some projects just in time for Christmas.  In fact, I was working on one Christmas Day. I'll be sharing those projects very soon.

After a lot of reflection over the last couple of months, I have made a very difficult quilty resolution for 2015. I will not be taking on any new custom orders/commissions for 2015. This has been a hard one for me, mostly because I have a REALLY hard time saying 'no'. I love creating things for people  and it's hard to turn down an opportunity to do so. But saying 'yes' to everything isn't always a good thing either!  

I am still going to be quilting and making things in 2015. This year I will be exploring my craft and making the collection of things that I have wanted to make for some time. I have many, many ideas in my head and in my sketchbook.  You may even see some of these things for sale on my website as I have been told I can't keep everything for myself. Ha!  

I hope you will continue to follow my quilting journey and read about the things I create in 2015!

Happy New Year!

A friend from College, Frances, approached me not too long ago about commissioning a quilt for her baby. She is expecting a little girl and I could not be happier for her!  She wanted a classic and stylish colour palette and pattern for her quilt.  Frances selected a mostly red and aqua palette for her quilt.  I have always wanted to make a quilt using this palette!  I mean, red and aqua? Can it get more adorably sweet?! Swoon.

Now, I typically name my baby quilts after the babies that receive them.  However in this case, since it will still be awhile before this little lady will make her appearance, I will temporarily name this quilt after the fabric line in which it is made from, Moda's Miss Kate.

I'm thinking that I may need to make a big girl version of this for myself!

A little while ago I was approached to make a baby quilt for a friend who was expecting her first Grandbaby, Silas.  The Parents-to-be wanted a blue/orange colour scheme, but weren't too particular on the design.  

We selected the adorable Riley Blake's One for the Boys and found that the fabric was perfect for the colour scheme.  The majority of the fabrics in this line were pretty subdued.  There was one orange fabric that seemed to pop out.  

During a staff meeting at my day job (I promise I really was paying attention), I sketched out some ideas that would make the orange fabric pop.  The idea was to have the orange fabric "bounce" throughout the quilt.

After a little bit of playing, this was the final design.  

The top was quilted with a navy blue straight line quilting and a soft taupe minky was used on the back.

I came across West Elm's Snow Peaks Carpet and thought that there is something there.  I loved the used of vertical lines and negative space.  The vertical lines worked great with the random sized strips of fabric I already had cut.

The quilt top is composed of a combination of scrappy, patterned and solid equilateral triangle blocks. Using the triangles as a guideline, the top was straighline quilted in multiple directions.  This effect created zig zags, triangles and diamonds.  I thought it would be suitable to name the quilt "Changing Directions".   The overall dimesions of the quilt are 52"wide x 75"long.  The perfect size for curling up on the sofa.

Ok, so this post isn't at all quilting related.  It is, however, something that has made me extremely happy!
A new coffee table! Well, a new-to-me coffee table.

For quite some time now (ahem, 2 years), I have been obsessively hunting for the perfect coffee table.  I love our current table, but it is far too large for our living room.  It's birch wood from Ikea circa 2001, 36"w x 36"d.  I still think it's beautiful, but I was looking for something to coordinate with my Mid-Century Modern credenza that I inherited many years ago.  

The new coffee table had to meet the following criteria:

• Maximum 30"w square or diameter
  
• Shelf on the bottom for storage
  
• Coordinate with MidCentury Modern (MCM)
• Walnut wood
• Affordable! 

After several failed attempts to score something on Kijiji, I spotted this on my Aunt Joan's blog, Nicer than New. Can you see the table?

The focus and subject of the photo was a table that she was converting to a Chess Table.  Hiding in the back on the left hand side was a cute little round Mid-Century Modern coffee table with a shelf on the bottom.  That was it!  It looked like it may meet most of the "criteria".

After a little bit of corresponding I found out that, yes, the table was in fact in her possession and not slated for any customer.  Jackpot. It was 30" in diameter, had a shelf below, and coordinated with my credenza.  It wasn't walnut.  It also, like my current coffee table, was birch.  Birch can be stained to match walnut, right?  

The best part, Joan offered to rehabilitate this lovely table for me!

The top was not in the best condition.  In fact, it was pretty worn.  

The sanding began.  (That's right, in the snow)  It's true beauty was revealed!

We both agreed that it would look great stained a walnut colour.  Then the conversation began.  Did I want the entire thing stained, or part of it painted?  I tried not to over think it.  After a bit of time, I asked for the legs to be painted Benjamin Moore's Cloud White and the top and bottom shelf to be stained walnut.

Here is the gorgeous result...

AND here it is in its new home!

Isn't it just perfect?

If you are interested in learning more about this table's transformation, you can head on over to Nicer Than New to read more.  Maybe you'll find a little something for yourself too!