10 hours of quilting and female bonding! Saturday, Christine and I went to our guild's Quilt 'til You Wilt day at the Stoneridge Inn. It was lovely! Coffee, tea, lunch and supper and a day of non-stop quilting!
I brought my Suske (McKenna Ryan 'Dora' pattern) wall hanging. I had fused the pieces on but I had not appliqued it yet. This was a perfect project to work on, because there were so many small pieces to sew down, I would need a good block of time for this. I used invisible thread on top and black in the bobbin for the dark pieces and off-white for the light pieces. 
It's my first applique of this type, and I'm not sure I'm the right sort for this. The bonding stuff gums up your needle and sometimes it leaves big needle holes, which might have been a tension problem, I'm not sure. I think I will embellish a bit with some hand embroidery to distract from the slightly sloppy sewing I did around the flowers. Those petals were difficult! Christine said when people are looking at the wall hanging they are looking at the big picture and not so much the tiny details. After I finished that, I was able to work on 'Suske II: Split Personality' and I finished my applique on 'Echt Hollands'. A truly productive quilty day!
For Gwen,
I ironed on my flower petals first, using Lite Steam-A-Seam2 as a bond, then I drew in pencil lightly the line of the stem. Using a running stitch in matching DMC floss (I am sure any matching thread will do) I hand sewed the ribbon over my pencil line. Then I ironed on the blue petals. I will finish the petals with a blanket stitch. It was very easy to manipulate the ribbon around the curves and it is only 1/8 inch (3mm) wide, so a single running stitch is all it needed.
I found some darker blue ribbon for my boerenbont applique. I was also considering doing it in embroidery, but when I made a sampler up, I definitely liked the ribbon better. I still have to blanket stitch the petals and leaves, but I thought I would show you the progress. I also borrowed from my mom, a saucer with the boerenbont pattern on it for reference. I put it in the photo so you can see what boerenbont looks like. Most people have seen Delft blue patterns, but many have never seen the boerenbont.
I hit a road block with my Echt Hollands quilt, I definitely need a darker blue ribbon. I haven't found any yet. So I was sitting in my sewing room with my measly stash....unlike others, I do not yet need to go on a fabric diet. I found some neat left over cat fabric and I was making little piles of matching fabrics, and I found I that some of the matching fabrics were from my Suske Quilt. So what could I do with this? Perusing APQ October 2005 I found this Block Party pattern by Jason Yenter that might do!
First you make these courthouse blocks, mine are one strip smaller than in the pattern, and I only made nine of them. 
Then, you split them into four pieces and join them with a thin sashing. Above, I had already cut my blocks, when I realized I hadn't taken any photos yet, so you can see the cut lines. Below I show you how they are split and then rejoined. I hadn't finished the piecing yet.
I've decided to call this wallhanging Suske II: Split Personality. However I have hit another road block...I have the perfect fabric for the sashing, but I don't think I'll have enough. Will the store I got them at still have it.....? Will keep you posted.
Below is Suske's take on the whole thing!
I am also getting ready for our Robyn Pandolph's visit to our guild and her workshop. Here are the fabrics I bought for the workshop. Aren't they yummy?! Very feminine, not really my style, but I like this colour combo. Some are her fabrics and the others are some Robert Kaufman blends. Those are great! When I first saw them by themselves, I shrugged, but when you put them with the prints they are fabulous. You know why I like these fabrics, even though they are not really me? They remind me of spring and I am getting so sick of winter! There I said it! It had to be said. It was minus 18 degrees Celsius yesterday! We just got out of another snowstorm! egad!...although today was sunny...yes, the fabrics remind me of spring.
While at my mom's I found these photos! Here's Benji keeping warm during our deep freeze! -20 degrees Celsius!
The following photos of Mom and me, out for a little cross country skiing. Mom got new skis for Christmas.
I'm back! and feeling much better! Thanks to those who sent me warm wishes! Also, thanks to those who welcomed me to Quilt Mavericks!
I have been bugging our guild executive about starting a blog for the guild. We don't have an official web site or web presence at all. So finally I was invited to their executive meeting where I could present my idea. It was great! We accomplished a lot. We now have a blog started and the beginnings of an official website, too! There is still a lot of work to do, trying to figure out who gets to post and setting all that up, but in the mean time, I am the 'editor' for now and we have made our first post and hopefully as things move into place, the postings will become more frequent. Our next guild meeting is on Thursday, where we will present the idea and the address to the membership. And hopefully this will become a place for the membership to go to get up-to-date news about the guild and new people can find out about us and what fun we have! I have used the blog for our store and it has worked well as a sort of on-line newsletter, letting everyone know about upcoming events and sales. I thought it could be easily adapted for our guild, without having to learn html, especially when there are so many older people in the guild, who may not be as savvy on the computer, blogging is so easy to learn. I've put a link to the guild's blog on the sidebar or you can get a sneak peak here.
I have made some more progress on 'Echt Hollands', but I left my camera at work, so no pics today. I am happy to report my friend Christine has started posting more frequently on her blog, you can check it out here.
Speaking of blogging more frequently, has anyone seen Hedgehog lately? I miss her posts. I hope she is well.
